U.S. Stocks May Move To The Upside In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to move to the upside after ending yesterday's choppy trading session narrowly mixed.

The markets may continue to benefit from recent upward momentum, which has led stocks higher over the past several sessions and lifted the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to new record highs.

Traders also continue to keep an eye on trade talks between the U.S. and China in Stockholm ahead of Friday's "reciprocal tariff" deadline.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that most trading partners that do not negotiate separate trade deals would soon face tariffs of 15 percent to 20 percent on their exports to the United States.

Overall trading activity may remain somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, the announcement could impact the outlook for rates.

The Labor Department's monthly jobs report is also likely to be in focus in the coming days along with earnings news from Magnificent Seven members Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META).

After moving modestly higher early in the session, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance over the course of the trading day on Monday. Despite the choppy trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.

The Nasdaq rose 70.27 points or 0.3 percent to 21,178.58 and the S&P 500 inched up 1.13 points or less than a tenth of percent to 6,389.77, while the narrower Dow edged down 64.36 points or 0.1 percent to 44,837.56.

The early strength on Wall Street came amid news the U.S. and the European Union struck a last-minute trade agreement and reports suggesting the U.S. and China are likely to extend their tariff truce for another 90 days.

The U.S.-EU agreement includes a 15 percent tariff on European goods, down from the 30 percent originally proposed.

The EU has also committed to purchasing $750 billion worth of U.S. energy and investing $600 billion more into the American economy as part of the agreement.

Energy stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Oil Index and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index jumping by 2.1 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

The strength among energy stocks came as the price of crude oil moved sharply higher in reaction to the U.S.-EU trade deal.

Significant strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Computer hardware stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, while gold, steel and commercial real estate stocks showed notable moves to the downside.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are rising $0.39 to $67.10 a barrel after surging $1.55 to $66.71 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after slumping $25.60 to $3,310 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching up $8.80 to $3,318.80 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 148.63 yen compared to the 148.53 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1530 compared to yesterday's $1.1589.

Asia

Asian stocks ended Tuesday's session on a mixed note as investors looked past the U.S.-EU trade deal and awaited the outcome of ongoing U.S.-China talks in Stockholm.

As the August 1 deadline nears, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that most trading partners that do not negotiate separate trade deals would soon face tariffs of 15 percent to 20 percent on their exports to the United States and that some 200 countries would be notified soon of their new "world tariff" rate.

Investors also braced for big tech earnings, key U.S. economic indicators and upcoming Fed and BoJ rate decisions.

The dollar gained strength, and gold was steady below $3,315 per ounce, while crude oil futures steadied at around 10-day highs as Trump shortened the deadline for Russia oil sanctions.

China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to 3,609.71, reversing an early slide after Trump said he may visit China at Chinese President Xi Jinping's invitation, which Trump said had been extended.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 0.2 percent to 25,524.45, with tech stocks falling following reports of the U.S. Commerce Department delaying approvals for NVIDIA's export licenses to China.

Japanese markets ended lower for a third straight session on concerns over political instability and the corporate outlook.

The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.8 percent to 40,674.55 as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba faced renewed calls to resign over last week's historic election loss. The broader Topix Index settled 0.8 percent lower at 2,908.64.

Chip-related stocks paced the declines, with Lasertec plunging more than 8 percent. Advantest and Tokyo Electron both fell over 1 percent. Nitto Denko lost 3.1 percent after the industrial materials maker reported a decline in quarterly profits.

Seoul stocks climbed to hit a nearly four-year high, buoyed by strong foreign buying. The Kospi jumped 0.7 percent to 3,230.57, extending gains for a fifth straight session as last-minute trade negotiations continued between Seoul and Washington.

Australian markets finished marginally higher as investors scrutinized the long-term impact of elevated U.S. tariffs.

Miners and banks fell ahead of key inflation data that could steer the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) next interest-rate decision.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index edged up by 0.2 percent to 12,936.41.

Europe

European stocks have advanced on Tuesday, with sentiment underpinned by positive earnings news and eased worries of a trade war.

The euro was fragile after the EU-U.S. trade deal met with gloomy reactions from many European leaders.

Investors now await the outcome of U.S.-China talks in Sweden aimed at extending a temporary tariff truce.

The French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.2 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 1.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.5 percent.

Swiss technology firm ABB rose about 1 percent after securing orders to support Tata Steel's major decarbonization project at its Port Talbot Steelworks in U.K.

Tobii AB, which develops and sells eye-tracking technology and solutions, slumped 16 percent despite reporting a robust financial performance for the second quarter of 2025.

Drug maker AstraZeneca gained 2.2 percent in London after second-quarter earnings topped expectations.

Essentra surged 6 percent. The maker of plastic and fiber products maintained its full-year outlook after reporting first-half 2025 results in line with expectations.

TeamViewer SE shares climbed more than 5 percent. The German remote access software solutions provider confirmed its annual revenue outlook after reporting a rise in earnings for the first half.

Jeep maker Stellantis NV fell 2.4 percent after it reported a first-half net loss of 2.3 billion euros ($2.65 billion).

Dutch medical-technology firm Philips soared 10 percent after lifting its profitability outlook.

Air Liquide rallied 2.6 percent. The French industrial gases group confirmed its margin outlook until 2026 after reporting half-year revenue in line with market expectations.

U.S. Economic News

Standard & Poor's is scheduled to release its report on home prices in major metropolitan areas in the month of May at 9 am ET.

At 10 am ET, the Conference Board is due to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of July. The consumer confidence index is expected to rise to 95.8 in July after falling to 93.0 in June.

The Labor Department is also scheduled to release its report on job openings in the month of June at 10 am ET. Job openings are expected to decrease to 7.400 million in June from 7.769 million in May.

At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is due to announce the results of this month's auction of $44 billion worth of seven-year notes.