Stock futures rise as Wall Street looks to break 3-week losing streak
U.S. stock markets index futures rose Tuesday as traders aimed to start the holiday-shortened week on a strong note. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 222 points, or 0.71%. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.7%, and S&P 500 futures added 0.71%. U.S. markets were closed Monday due to the Labor Day holiday. CVS Health said Monday it’s buying Signify Health for roughly $8 billion, while Volkswagen shared its plan to float Porsche for an initial public offering. On Friday, the major averages closed out their third negative week in a row. The Nasdaq Composite posted its first six-day losing streak since 2019, ending the session 1.3% lower, while the Dow erased a 370-point gain on Friday to close about 1.1% lower. The S&P shed 1.1% to its lowest close since July. In the holiday-shortened week, investors are looking ahead to speeches from Federal Reserve presidents and a fresh rate hike decision from the European Central bank due out later this week. August PMI services and ISM services data are slated for Tuesday. “This is the week where everyone’s back,” said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda. “Everyone’s back to school, back to trading, a lot of people are back into the office. There’s still a lot of pessimism here that we could continue to see inflation rear its ugly head and that should warrant more aggressive rate hikes by the Fed.” Shares in the Asia-Pacific traded mostly higher on Tuesday as Australia’s central bank raised interest rates again. Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite added 1.36% to 3,243.56 and the Shenzhen Component was 1.037% higher at 11,799.81 after officials signaled more economic support. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was about flat at 27,626.51, and the Topix index was 0.11% lower at 1,926.58. The Japanese yen weakened sharply and hit a 24-year high. It last changed hands at 141.55 per dollar. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was trading about flat in the final hour of trade. The Kospi in South Korea was up 0.26% at 2,410.02 and the Kosdaq gained 1.04% to 779.46. Oil fell on Tuesday after a two-day rally as concern returned about weaker demand and the prospect of more interest rate hikes, trumping support from OPEC+’s first output target cut since 2020. New Covid-19 lockdowns in China have added to worries that high inflation and rate hikes will hit demand. The European Central Bank is widely expected to lift rates sharply when it meets on Thursday. Brent crude was down $2.78, or 2.9%, to $92.96. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 42 cents to $86.48 per barrel. U.S. markets were closed due to the Labor Day holiday. Gold prices gained on Tuesday as the blistering U.S. dollar rally took a pause, although lingering worries around rapid interest rate hikes globally to tame inflation kept bullion gains in check. Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,712.10 per ounce. Prices hit a one-week high after rising nearly 1% earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,723.60.