By Peter Nurse
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are seen opening higher Tuesday, as investors focus on more inflation data and results from key retailers Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Home Depot (NYSE:HD).
At 07:00 ET (12:00 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 120 points, or 0.3%, S&P 500 Futures traded 28 points, or 0.7%, higher, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 125 points, or 1.1%.
The main stock indices closed lower Monday, ending a strong two-day advance, at the start of a week that will provide clues over how consumers are faring given the high levels of inflation and rising interest rates.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed over 200 points, or 0.6% lower, the broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.9%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.1%.
Investors are looking for clues as to the Federal Reserve's plans for interest rates after last week’s inflation report for October indicated prices are now retreating.
Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard suggested Monday that the U.S. central bank will likely soon slow its interest rate hikes, echoing weekend comments from Governor Christopher Waller, and policymakers Patrick Harker, Lisa Cook, and Michael Barr are scheduled to speak Tuesday.
Also of interest will be the latest producer price index release, at 08:30 ET (13:30 GMT), which is expected to show the headline figure rising 8.3% on an annual basis in October, a slower pace than September, and 0.4% for the month.
The earnings season focuses on the retail sector this week.
Home Depot beat expectations for quarterly same-store sales, helped by higher prices and steady demand for home improvement tools, while Walmart is also due to release numbers before the open.
The likes of Target (NYSE:TGT), Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW), Macy’s (NYSE:M), Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS), and Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) are all scheduled to report later in the week.
The G-20 meeting in Indonesia is also attracting investor attention, with U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreeing to allow senior officials to renew communication on climate, debt relief, and other issues, according to the White House.
Oil prices edged lower Tuesday, continuing the previous session’s selloff as growing numbers of COVID cases in China, the largest importer of crude in the world, weighed on the global demand outlook.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its global oil demand growth forecast on Monday, for a fifth time since April, citing mounting economic challenges.
The American Petroleum Institute releases its weekly estimate of U.S. crude oil stocks later in the session, and is expected to show a fall of around 300,000 barrels last week, a substantial improvement from the previous week’s gain of over 5 million barrels.
By 07:00 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.8% lower at $85.22 a barrel, while the Brent contract traded 0.6% lower at $92.59. Both benchmarks dropped around 3% on Monday.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,778.80/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.8% higher at 1.0406.