USA index futures climbed, indicating the S&P 500 will extend a record, as investors weighed prospects for corporate health as the earnings season kicked off. With the upward move on the day, the Dow and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs, while the Nasdaq hit its best levels of the year. The blue-chip index set an intraday high at 18,371.95.
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Investors are now turning their focus to corporate results, with analysts projecting a profit decline of 5.7 percent at S&P 500 firms in the three months through June.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 25.25 points, or 0.56 percent, on volume of 23,029 contracts. Eastern time. That is just 11 points below its previous high reached in May a year ago. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 76 points, or 0.4 percent, to 18,223 today.
“I think uncertainty over Brexit and the USA election will drag on stocks in the second half of the year”, market analyst Colin Cieszynski of CMC Markets Canada told Reuters.
The Nasdaq also closed in positive territory Tuesday for the first time this year. Earnings for the all of the S&P 500 is expected to fall compared to the year ago period, but then rise in the next quarter.
The S&P 500 was down 0.07 points, or roughly flat, at 2,152.07.
Investors continued to show an appetite for taking on risk.
Oil drillers and other energy companies are rising on a jump in oil prices.
In monetary policy, the Bank of Canada (BoC) will hold its June interest rate meeting. Citigroup gained 93 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $43.44.
Despite recent increases, however, bond yields remain near historic lows, a worrisome sign to many analysts.
“I wish we can be celebrating, but it’s a little disconcerting”, said Rob Bartenstein, CEO of Kestra Private Wealth Services.
“I think you need an improving economy to drive earnings, and higher earnings to support higher stock prices”.
In commodities, oil prices bounced back from two-month lows on Tuesday amid general weakness in the United States dollar.
Alcoa reported a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly profit, sending the aluminum producer’s shares up 4.7 percent premarket. The stock jumped 48 cents, or 5 percent, to $10.62.
“If estimates are correct, year-over-year earnings growth for S&P 500 returns to a positive trajatory in the third quarter of this year”, Russell said.
Seagate Technology: Data storage company Seagate Technology PLC saw its stock surge 22 percent after announcing it was cutting 14 percent of the Seagate workforce or 6,500 jobs.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude added $2.09 to $46.85 a barrel in NY. Brent crude, a standard for Global oil prices, rose $1 to $47.25a barrel in London. At day’s end, crude for August delivery was up $2.04, or 4.6%, at $46.80 per barrel – its largest single-day percentage gain since April 8. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised new government spending to help jolt Asia’s second-biggest economy back to life now that his Liberal Democratic Party has won in parliamentary elections. Oil markets failed to catch a bid on the broad improvement in risk sentiment, however, with their prices falling more than 1 percent to two-month lows on Monday.Their recovery early this year has stalled on a barrage of factors including disappointing drawdowns in US crude and gasoline, rising USA oil drilling rig count and cuts in bullish hedge fund bets on crude to four-month lows.Brent crude futures fell 0.3 percent in early Asian trade to $46.11 per barrel, near Monday’s two-month low of $45.90.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index surged 0.54%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index is trading 0.32% higher.
The pan-European STOXX Europe 600 index and the similar FTSEurofirst 300 index both rose 1.1 per cent, marking out their fourth straight day of gains.
Wholesale inventories, due at 10:00 a.m. ET, are likely to have risen 0.2 percent in May.
As shares rose, so, too, did government bond yields after falling to recent record lows.
US government bond prices fell. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields, which move inversely to prices, hit a 1-1/2-week high of 1.531 per cent.
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CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 104.20 yen from 104.84 yen.
