By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen pushing higher Tuesday, continuing recent gains amid growing confidence the country’s ramped-up vaccination program will lead to a prompt economic recovery.
At 7:25 AM ET (1225 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 200 points, or 0.6%, S&P 500 Futures traded 21 points, or 0.5%, higher, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 68 points, or 0.65%.
The U.S. stock market was closed on Monday for Presidents Day, but February is still on track to be the strongest month for the major Wall Street indices since November.
Stock markets have benefited from the expectation of additional stimulus from the new administration, with a $1.9 trillion package working its way through Congress, as well as its focus upon delivering vaccinations to the American public as quickly as possible.
The U.S. inoculation campaign has gained considerable momentum since a sluggish start in December, with 52.9 million total vaccines administered so far, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday.
America has far exceeded the countries of continental Europe in terms of the percentage of the populations vaccinated, but optimism is growing even across the pond.
Investor morale in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, rose sharply in February on expectations consumption will take off in the coming months, the ZEW economic research institute said earlier Tuesday.
The U.S. economic data slate is largely empty Tuesday, with just February’s NY Empire State Manufacturing index due, but Wednesday will see a large data dump, including January retail sales, PPI, industrial and manufacturing production numbers.
The key release, however, is likely to be the minutes from the last meeting of the Federal Reserve, with investors keen for clues as to when the central bank will consider starting pulling back its accommodative policy stance.
In corporate news, the earnings season has been generally positive, but is coming to a close. That said, CVS Health (NYSE:CVS), AIG (NYSE:AIG) and Palantir (NYSE:PLTR) are among the names reporting Tuesday.
Oil prices pushed higher in the U.S. Tuesday, as the severe cold spell in large parts of America resulted in heavy demand for power as well as disrupting supplies in Texas, the biggest crude producing state.
The deep freeze halted Texas oil wells and refineries on Monday and forced restrictions on natural gas and crude pipeline operators, resulting in blackouts throughout the state.
U.S. crude futures traded 0.5% higher at $59.75 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract fell 0.3% to $63.09, both contracts having traded earlier not far removed from their highest levels since January last year.
Elsewhere, gold futures fell 0.4% to $1,816.70/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% higher at 1.2167.