U.S. Futures Edge Higher; Stimulus Eyed Amid Political Turmoil

© Reuters.

By Peter Nurse   

Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening higher Tuesday, rebounding from the previous session’s losses with investors looking for additional fiscal stimulus amid continued political turmoil.

At 7:15 AM ET (1215 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 54 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 Futures traded 8 points, or 0.2%, higher, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 40 points, or 0.3%. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.3% lower Monday, snapping the 2021 winning streak, while the S&P 500 closed 0.6% lower and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.2%. The DJIA hasn't fallen on back-to-back days since Dec. 9-10.

The United States lost more than 22,000 lives to Covid-19 last week, a second straight weekly record. The overall death toll is now 375,000.

This surge, and the associated economic damage, prompted President-elect Joe Biden to promise further economic stimulus “in the trillions of dollars” late last week. More details are expected to follow in a formal announcement on Thursday, something that is supporting markets at their current elevated level.

Repercussions of last week’s violent scenes on Capitol Hill continue to be felt in political circles. The House of Representatives introduced an article of impeachment on Monday, accusing Trump of "incitement of insurrection", and plans to vote on it this week. 

Fears are also mounting that there could be further disruptions in the days leading up to Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20, with the FBI stating it has received information indicating "armed protests" are being planned at all 50 state capitols as well as in Washington.

Looking at economic data, the main release Tuesday will be the JOLTs job openings data for November, at 10 AM ET (1400 GMT), which follows Friday’s disappointing nonfarm payrolls release.

Also of interest will be a number of Federal Reserve speakers, particularly after a number of regional Fed Presidents have hinted that the central bank’s 'tapering' of bond purchases could begin toward the end of 2021.

In corporate news, the social media giants will remain in focus after Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Twitter and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) all clamped down on speech that they said raised the risk of further violence.

Oil prices pushed higher Tuesday, climbing to 11-month highs, helped by last week’s pledge by Saudi Arabia to voluntarily cut production. 

Focus will now turn to the publication of reports concerning U.S. oil stockpiles from the American Petroleum Institute later Tuesday and the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.

U.S. crude futures traded 1.3% higher at $52.95 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract rose 1.3% to $56.39. 

Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,857.10/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.2152.