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U.S. stock-index futures were higher Tuesday morning, aiming to add to the previous day’s rally amid reports that President Donald Trump is backing a $1 trillion infrastructure spending package to add more fiscal stimulus to help the economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
Investors also are awaiting testimony Tuesday from Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, after the Fed expanded its corporate bond buying program Monday to include purchases in the secondary market.
How are benchmarks faring?
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YM00, +1.99% YMM20, +1.96% were rising 429 points, or 1.7%, at 26,104, those for the S&P 500 index ES00, +1.44% ESM20, +1.42% were 34.10 at 3,096.25, a gain of 1.1%, while Nasdaq-100 futures NQ00, +1.36% NQM20, +1.33% were advancing 104.50 points, or 1.1%, at 9,893.
On Monday, the Dow DJIA, +0.61% closed 157.62 points higher, or 0.6%, at 25,763.16, after falling by as many as 762 points or 3% at its Monday low, The S&P 500 SPX, +0.83% added 25.28 points, or 0.8%, finishing at 3,066.59, after hitting an intraday low at 2,965.66, or down 2.5%. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +1.43% advanced 137.21 points. or 1.4%, ending at 9,726.02.
Both the S&P 500 and the Dow mounted their sharpest reversal to finish in positive territory since March 19, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
What’s driving the market?
On Tuesday, the market’s early advance was being attributed to a Bloomberg report that the Trump administration was working on a $1 trillion infrastructure spending package to help revive the economy on the back of an existing infrastructure funding that comes up for renewal on Sept. 30.
Meanwhile, markets participants will be watching remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as part of his two-day semiannual testimony before the U.S. Congress. Powell’s Senate testimony starts at 10 a.m. Eastern, though he is expected to reiterate the bleak outlook for the economy outlined at the Fed’s policy meeting last week.
Read: MarketWatch’s Need to Know column: A budding recovery could run into trouble after the election, warns Goldman Sachs
On Monday, the stock-market shrugged off evidence of rising coronavirus infections in nearly half of U.S. states and added to gains after the Fed said it was expanding the scope of its $750 billion emergency corporate debt loan facility to include individual corporate bonds.
One key piece of U.S. economic data on Tuesday will be a reading of retail sales data for May which is expected to show signs of recovery after a slump in April. .
Looking beyond that, investors also will digest a reading of industrial production for May at 9:15 a.m.while, reports on business inventories and housing market index are due to be released at 10 a.m. In addition to Powell, the Fed’s No. 2 to Chairman Richard Clarida will speak at 6 p.m.
Which stocks are in focus?
- European Union antitrust authorities launched two probes into whether Apple Inc. AAPL, +1.23% violated competition laws through its Apple Pay service and its App Store for software that runs on its mobile devices.
- Shares of iQIYI Inc. IQ, +7.58% rocketed in very active trading Tuesday, after Reuters reported that Tencent Holdings Ltd. TCEHY, +0.14% was looking to become the largest shareholder in the China-based provider of video streaming services.
- Caesars Entertainment Corp. CZR, +1.21% disclosed Tuesday that revenue for the reopened regional properties, for the period they were operating in May and/or June through June 10 were flat to up 2% from a year ago.
- WW International Inc. shares WW, +2.09% surged in the extended session Monday after the Weight Watchers parent company said digital subscriptions boosted numbers from a year ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
How are other assets faring?
West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude CLN20, +2.07% tacked on 57 cents, or 1.6%, to trade at $37.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after recovering on Monday to settle higher.
The greenback traded down 0.6%, as gauged by the ICE U.S. Dollar index DXY, +0.03%.
Check out: ‘The dollar is going to fall very, very sharply,’ warns prominent Yale economist
In precious metals, August gold GCM20, +0.34% on Comex traded $6.40, or 0.4%, higher at $1,733.60 an ounce
The 10-year Treasury note yield TMUBMUSD10Y, 0.751% rose 3.5 basis points to 0.74%. Bond prices move in the opposite direction of yields.
In global equities, the Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, +2.78% traded 2.6% higher, while the FTSE 100 index UKX, +2.69% gained 2.5%.
In Asia markets, China’s benchmark CSI 300 index 000300, +1.50% closed 1.5% higher on Tuesday, while the Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +1.44% picked up 1.4%, and the Japanese Nikkei NIK, +4.88% surged 4.9%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng HSI, +2.38% climbed 2.4% and South Korea’s Kospi rose rallied 5.3%.
