WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With trading resuming following the long holiday weekend, stocks may move modestly higher early in the session on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 29 points.
Easing trade concerns may generate some early buying interest after President Donald Trump expressed optimism the U.S. and China will eventually reach a trade agreement.
'I think, sometime in the future, China and the United States will absolutely have a great trade deal. And we look forward to that,' Trump during a trip to Japan over the weekend.
Positive sentiment is likely to be relatively subdued, however, as Trump also said U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods could 'go up very, very substantially, very easily.'
Trump also said the U.S. is 'not ready to make a deal' and suggested China probably wishes 'they made the deal that they had on the table before they tried to renegotiate it.'
Light trading activity could also lead to some volatility on Wall Street, with some traders still away from their desks following the long weekend.
Shortly after the start of trading, the Conference Board is scheduled to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of May. The consumer confidence index is expected to inch up to 129.8 in May after jumping to 129.2 in April.
Following the sell-off seen last Thursday, stocks regained some ground early in the trading day on Friday. However, the major averages were unable to sustain the initial upward move and pulled back well off their highs over the course session.
The major averages still managed to end the day modestly higher. The Dow rose 95.22 points or 0.4 percent to 25,585.69, the Nasdaq edged up 8.72 points or 0.1 percent to 7,637.01 and the S&P 500 inched up 3.82 points or 0.1 percent to 2,826.06.
Even with the uptick on the day, the major averages moved notably lower for the week. While the Nasdaq plunged by 2.3 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled by 1.2 percent and the Dow slid by 0.7 percent.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 0.6 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has advanced by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both inching up by 0.1 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are rising $0.55 to $59.18 a barrel after climbing $0.72 to $58.63 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after slipping $1.80 to $1,283.60 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are sliding $7.50 to $1,276.10 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 109.45 yen compared to the 109.51 yen it fetched on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1185 compared to yesterday's $1.1194.
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