Stocks appear to be starting off steady this Tuesday, after the strong upward surge that was observed in the past few sessions. According to predictions, the market seems to be opening fairly even, with S&P 500 futures rising by less than one-tenth of a percent.
Investors might take a moment to pause following the growth witnessed in Monday's session, which continued the upward trajectory from the previous week's end. Consequently, major averages have reached their highest in almost a month due to renewed optimism about interest rates outlook.
Remarks from Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve Chair, seen as "relatively dovish," and lackluster job growth in April have largely alleviated temporary worries concerning potential interest rate hikes by the Fed. Instead, investors have become more confidently assured about a rate decrease in the next few months; the FedWatch Tool by CME Group now estimates an 83.5% likelihood of rates falling by September.
In terms of individual stocks, Disney shares are showing significant pre-market downturns despite the company reporting better-than-predicted earnings for the fiscal third quarter. Palantir Technologies' shares might also face a decline following the data analytics firm's disappointing revenue forecast for the full year.
On the flip side, Hims & Hers Health shares are witnessing a sharp pre-market incline after the telehealth company reported favourable results for the first quarter and offered an optimistic revenue forecast for the second quarter. Additionally, Gap, the clothing retailer, is likely to experience an initial boost given the neutral-to-buy stock rating upgrade by Citi.
The previous week's rally extended into Monday, resulting in the major averages reaching their highest closing in nearly a month. Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 achieved new session highs prior to trading close; the former surged by 1.2 percent to 16,349.25, while the latter rose by 1.0 percent to 5,180.74. Simultaneously, the Dow increased by 0.5 percent to 38,862.27.
Overseas activity saw Asian-Pacific stock markets mostly on the rise on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 Index in Japan and the Kospi in South Korea jumping by 1.6 percent and 2.2 percent respectively, and the Shanghai Composite Index in China showing a modest 0.2 percent increase. Major European markets have also followed an upward trend, with the UK's FTSE 100 Index leaping by 1.1 percent, Germany's DAX Index by 0.6 percent, and France's CAC 40 Index by 0.4 percent.
In the commodities market, crude oil futures are experiencing a mild downturn of $0.30 to $78.18 a barrel following Monday's $0.37 rise to $78.48 a barrel. Concurrently, gold futures are slightly decreasing by $7.80 to $2,323.40 an ounce after the previous session's $22.60 leap to $2,331.20 an ounce.
Regarding currency, the US dollar is being traded at 154.43 yen compared to Monday's close of 153.92 yen in New York. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0775 compared to yesterday's $1.0769.