WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Tuesday following the strong recovery seen over the two previous sessions. The major index futures are currently pointing to a slightly higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 35 points.
Traders may take a breather after the rally seen over the past couple sessions largely offset the sell-off that was seen last Wednesday.
The upcoming release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's late-July meeting on Wednesday may also keep some traders on the sidelines.
The minutes, along with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's speech on Friday, may shed additional light on the outlook for interest rates.
The Fed cut interest rates by 25 basis points last month and CME Group's FedWatch tool currently indicates a 90.4 percent chance of another 25 basis point rate cut in September.
Powell suggested that the July rate cut should not be seen as 'the beginning of a lengthy cutting cycle,' but President Donald Trump has been putting intense pressure on the Fed to continue cutting rates.
Trump claimed in a post on Twitter on Monday that the U.S. economy is very strong in spite of Powell's 'horrendous lack of vision.'
'The Fed Rate, over a fairly short period of time, should be reduced by at least 100 basis points, with perhaps some quantitative easing as well,' Trump tweeted.
He added, 'If that happened, our Economy would be even better, and the World Economy would be greatly and quickly enhanced-good for everyone!'
Meanwhile, shares of Home Depot (HD) may be in focus after the home improvement retailer reported better than expected second quarter earnings but missed sales estimates and lowered its full-year revenue outlook due to concerns about tariffs.
Stocks moved significantly higher over the course of the trading session on Monday, continuing to offset the sell-off seen last Wednesday. With the upward move, the Dow and the S&P 500 climbed further off last week's two-month lows.
The major averages gave back some ground going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow surged up 249.78 points or 1 percent to 26,135.79, the Nasdaq soared 106.82 points or 1.4 percent to 8,002.81 and the S&P 500 jumped 34.97 points or 1.2 percent to 2,923.65.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index edged down by 0.1 percent.
The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the German DAX Index has dipped by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slipping $0.07 to $56.14 barrel after jumping $1.34 to $56.21 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after tumbling $12 to $1,511.60 ounce in the previous session, gold futures are rising $2.50 to $1,514.10 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 106.31 yen compared to the 106.64 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1077 compared to yesterday's $1.1078.
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