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At 06:50 ET (10:50 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 95 points, or 0.3%, S&P 500 Futures traded 5 points, or 0.1%, lower, while Nasdaq 100 Futures traded largely flat.
Concern about the lack of agreement over the lifting of the country’s debt ceiling has weighed on equity markets, and so a lot of attention is on the summit between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy later today, with the estimated June deadline to lift the $31.4 trillion borrowing limit edging closer.
The two sides remain at odds over spending proposals, although Biden expressed confidence over the weekend of a deal being agreed. This would ward off the potential of the federal government defaulting on its debts, an event that could have major consequences globally.
Despite these concerns, investors have lifted their equity allocations to a 5-month high, a Bank of America survey showed on Tuesday, lifting their allocations in tech stocks to the highest since December 2021.
Investors will also keep an eye on the retail sales data for April, due at 08:30 ET (12:30 GMT), which are expected to rise 0.8% from the prior month and 4.2% from the same month last year.
Signs of an economic slowdown are expected to prompt the Federal Reserve to pause its interest-rate hiking cycle as it assesses the impact of its policy actions, and this sort of data will be studied carefully.
There are also a number of central bank officials scheduled to speak today, including Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, as well as Raphael Bostic of Atlanta, John Williams of New York and Austan Goolsbee of Chicago.
In corporate news, Home Depot (NYSE:HD) stock fell 4.5% premarket after the country’s largest home improvement chain slashed its annual sales forecast, with customers cutting back on spending on tools and building materials.
Oil prices edged higher Tuesday, boosted by U.S. plans to refill its heavily-depleted strategic reserves.
The U.S. Department of Energy said on Monday it would buy 3 million barrels of crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for delivery in August, and asked that offers be submitted by May 31.
The move comes after the Biden administration drew the SPR to its lowest level since 1983 over the past year in a bid to bring down record-high fuel prices spurred by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry body, is set to release its weekly estimate of U.S. crude stocks later in the session.
By 06:50 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.1% higher at $71.17 a barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 0.1% to $75.25.
Additionally, gold futures fell 0.5% to $2,012.55/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.2% higher at 1.0895.
