WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the choppy trading seen in the previous session, stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 54 points.
Stocks may benefit from renewed optimism about U.S.-China trade talks after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said negotiations between the two economic superpowers will resume in two weeks in Washington.
Mnuchin said during an interview with Fox Business Network on Monday that he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.
The Treasury Secretary also revealed during a meeting at the United Nations that the U.S. had called off a trip by Chinese officials to U.S. farms last week, although the news seemed to come as a surprise to President Donald Trump.
'We didn't want there to be any confusion,' Mnuchin explained. 'They're going to reschedule that at a different time. The timing didn't work.'
Reports the Chinese trade negotiators had canceled the scheduled visit to U.S. farm states contributed to a sharp drop by stocks last Friday.
Not long after the start of trading, the Conference Board is due to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of September. The consumer confidence index is expected to drop to 133.0 in September after edging down to 135.1 in August.
Stocks showed a lack of direction throughout the trading session on Monday as traders seemed reluctant to make any significant moves. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
The major averages eventually ended the session mixed. While the Dow inched up 14.92 points or 0.1 percent to 26,949.99, the Nasdaq slipped 5.21 points or 0.1 percent to 8,112.46 and the S&P 500 edged down 0.29 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,991.78.
In overseas trading, most stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region saw modest strength during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index crept up by 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ticked up by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have turned mixed on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has fallen by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index is just above the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.2 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are sliding $0.64 to $58 barrel after climbing $0.55 to $58.64 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after jumping $16.40 to $1,531.50 ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slipping $2 to $1,529.50 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 107.65 yen compared to the 107.55 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1007 compared to yesterday's $1.0993.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2019 AFX News
