Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, December 26:
1. U.S. stocks set to drift amid holiday trade
Despite the fact that Wall Street will reopen its doors Tuesday after Christmas, trading was expected be thin as many traders had already closed their books for the holiday season with plans to come back and face markets again in 2018.
After the Dow and S&P 500 ended Friday slightly lower, but still posting a fifth consecutive week of gains, U.S. stocks looked set to undergo another session of subdued trading. At 6:00AM ET (11:00GMT), the blue-chip Dow futures slipped 22 points, or 0.09%, S&P 500 futures were unchanged, while the Nasdaq 100 futures lost 8 points, or 0.13%.
European equities offered no references with most major exchanges closed Tuesday for Boxing Day.
Earlier Tuesday, Asian shares closed with mixed signs. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.23%, while China’s Shanghai Composite managed gains of 0.78%. Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand markets remained closed on Tuesday.
2. Focus on U.S. consumer confidence
The main focus ahead on the economic calendar will be the Conference Board’s consumer confidence for December, released at 10:00AM ET (15:00GMT), Tuesday.
In lesser reports, those traders not enjoying the holidays will also digest the S&P/Case-Shiller housing price index for October, and manufacturing indices from the Richmond and Dallas Fed.
Ahead of the releases, the dollar held steady against other major currencies on Tuesday, wavering around the unchanged mark. At 6:02AM ET (11:02GMT), the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, last inched up 0.01% at 92.89.
3. Bitcoin recovers from brutal Christmas selloff
Bitcoin extended its recovery in holiday-thinned trading on Tuesday, regaining part of last week's plunge that that took the largest cryptocurrency by market cap below $11,000.
Bitcoin -that trades 24 hours a day, 7 days a week- lost nearly half its value last week tumbling nearly 50% from all-time highs close to $20,000 reached on Sunday December 17 to a low of $10,718.
As the digital currency wavered over the weekend, it appeared to stabilize on Christmas and was continuing the rebound on Tuesday.
On the Bitfinex exchange, Bitcoin was last trading up $1,303.00 or 9.51%, to $15.000 by 6:03AM ET (11:03GMT).
4. Oil holds steady in choppy holiday trade
Oil prices wavered around the unchanged mark in early holiday-thinned trading Tuesday.
Bulls breathed a sigh of relief after Baker Hughes released its most recent weekly rig count data after Friday’s market close, showing that U.S. shale production had taken a pause. According to the data, the number of U.S. rigs targeting oil remained unchanged at 747.
However, recent news that a repair of the North Sea’s Forties Pipeline System is complete and pressure testing has started limited gains. The halt of the line earlier this month sent prices surging.
Ahead of the release, U.S. crude oil futures slipped 0.05% to $58.44 at 6:04AM ET (11:04GMT), while Brent oil dipped 0.14% to $64.64.
5. Apple under pressure on reports of weak iPhone X demand
Shares of Apple slid in pre-market trade on Tuesday on worries over sales of its iPhone X.
A report from Taiwan's Economic Daily suggested that the tech firm will slash its sales forecast for the iPhone X to 30 million units from an initial 50 million. The paper cited unidentified sources.
At 6:04AM ET (11:04GMT), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 1.66% to $172.11 in pre-market trading.