WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the mixed performance in the previous session, stocks may move to the downside in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 96 points.
Concerns about the state of U.S.-China trade talks may weigh on the markets after President Donald Trump lashed out at China in a series of posts on Twitter.
Trump claimed there are 'no signs' that China is following through on plans to purchase U.S. agricultural products and suggested the Chinese are hoping to wait out the U.S. presidential election to get a better deal.
'China is doing very badly, worst year in 27 - was supposed to start buying our agricultural product now - no signs that they are doing so,' Trump tweeted.
'That is the problem with China, they just don't come through,' he added. 'My team is negotiating with them now, but they always change the deal in the end to their benefit.'
The tweets from Trump come as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are in Shanghai this week to meet with their Chinese counterparts.
While the worries about the U.S.-China trade dispute may generate some negative sentiment, trading activity is likely to be subdued ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.
The U.S. economy is experiencing its longest expansion in history, but the Fed is expected to cut interest rates by at least 25 basis points in a proactive move aimed at offsetting the negative effects of the U.S.-China trade war.
Trump has repeatedly urged the Fed to lower rates, claiming in a post on Twitter on Monday that the central bank 'has made all of the wrong moves.'
Assuming the Fed cuts rates as expected, traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the potential for future rate cuts.
Shortly after the start of trading, the Conference Board is due to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of July. The consumer confidence index is expected to climb to 125.0 in July after tumbling to 121.5 in June.
The National Association of Realtors is also scheduled to release its report on pending home sales in the month of June. Pending home sales are expected to rise by 0.5 percent.
A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.
Stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance on Monday as traders stuck to the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The major averages eventually ended the session mixed.
While the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulled back off last Friday's record highs, the Dow inched up 28.90 points or 0.1 percent to 27,221.35. The Nasdaq fell 36.88 points or 0.4 percent to 8,293.33 and the S&P 500 dipped 4.89 points or 0.2 percent to 3,020.97.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and China's Shanghai Composite Index both rose by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index inched up by 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have come under pressure over the course of the session. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has edged down by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.3 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 2 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are rising $0.33 to $57.20 barrel after climbing $0.67 to $56.87 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after ticking up $1.10 to $1,420.40 ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $7.60 to $1,428 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 108.56 yen compared to the 108.78 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1149 compared to yesterday's $1.1145.
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