Bargain Hunting May Provide Support Even As Fed Meeting Introduces Caution

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Tuesday, with early weakness abating following the release of a report showing fairly positive housing starts data and a EU court ruling that vindicated the European Central Bank's quantitative easing measures.  The dollar is gaining ground against most currencies, with the exception of the pound, which has received support from domestic inflation data. Most commodities are weaker, although crude oil is firmer. Though bargain hunting could generate some strength, the FOMC announcement due for tomorrow could serve to keep sentiment.   U.S. stocks retreated on Monday, declining for the second straight session amid Greek worries and the release of mixed domestic economic data. The major averages opened notably lower following the release of disappointing reports on New York manufacturing activity and industrial production. Stocks began trimming their losses in reaction to an upbeat homebuilder sentiment reading and then moved roughly sideways below the unchanged line before ending moderately lower.    The Dow Industrials ended down 107.67 points or 0.60 percent at 17,791, the S&P 500 Index closed 9.68 points or 0.46 percent lower at 2,084 and the Nasaq Composite Index ended at 5,030, down 21.13 points or 0.42 percent.    Twenty-seven of the thirty Dow components closed lower, while the remaining three stocks advanced. 3M Co. (MMM), Merck (MRK), Microsoft (MSFT), Coca-Cola (KO) and Procter & Gamble (PG) were among the biggest decliners of the session.    Among the sectors, steel, biotechnology, airline and computer hardware stocks came under significant selling pressure.    On the economic front, the Federal Reserve reported that industrial production fell 0.2 percent month-over-month in May, belying expectations for a 0.2 percent increase. The previous month's output was also lowered to show a 0.5 percent drop.      Manufacturing output was down 0.2 percent and mining output fell 0.3 percent, while production by utilities improved 0.2 percent. In the manufacturing sector, non-durable goods production declined 0.7 percent. Capacity utilization edged down 0.2 points to 78.1 percent.    The results of the New York Federal Reserve's manufacturing survey showed that regional manufacturing activity contracted in June. The general business conditions index fell to -1.98 from 3.09. The new orders index fell 5 points to -2.12 and the shipments index slipped 3 points to 12.01. On the other hand, the number of employees index rose 3 points to 8.65.    Meanwhile, the National Association of Home Builders reported that its housing market index rose 5 points to 59 in June. The future sales conditions index was up 6 points to 69, the present sales conditions index climbed 7 points to 65 and the index measuring prospective buyer traffic moved 5 points higher to 44.    Currency, Commodity Markets    Crude oil futures are climbing $0.21 to $59.73 a barrel after falling $0.44 to $59.52 a barrel on Monday.  Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is currently trading at $1,182.20, down $3.60 from the previous session's close of $1,185.80.  On Monday, gold rose $6.60.     On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 123.43 yen compared to the 123.42 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1228 compared to yesterday's $1.1283.    Asia     The Asian markets fell for the second straight session amid rising tensions over how Greece will extricate itself from the debt tangle and the Fed's monetary policy stance.    The Japanese market extended its losses despite the weakening of the yen following a speech by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, who said his comments last week that served to strengthen the yen were not intended to move the currency.     The Nikkei 225 Index retreated steadily in the morning before moving sideways in the afternoon and ending the session down 129.85 points or 0.64 percent at 20,258.     Pharma, chemical, construction, resource, export and financial stocks all came under selling pressure.    Australia's All Ordinaries Index saw indecision in early trading but rose sharply in the morning only to gradually give back its gains over the course of the session and end down 6.30 points or 0.11 percent at 5,535.     Consumer discretionary, energy, material and real estate stocks came under intense selling pressure, while utility, telecom and financial stocks gained ground.     The Australian currency firmed up following the release of the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's June meeting.     Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed at 26,567, down 295.11 points or 1.10 percent, and China's Shanghai Composite Index ended down 175.56 points or 3.47 percent at 4,888.    On the economic front, the Reserve Bank of Australia relayed through the minutes of its June meeting that the monetary policy stance needs to be accommodative, although it did not signal any immediate easing and premised any further easing on evolving data.    Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that new motor vehicle sales in Australia fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent month-over-month to 93,479 in May compared to April's 1.5 percent decrease.?    Europe     European stocks continued to be roiled by the Greek impasse and are moving lower for the third straight session. Domestic data released from the region failed to lift the depressed sentiment.    In corporate news, U.K. restaurant group Whitbread reported that its first quarter sales climbed 12.5 percent and also confirmed the appointment of Alison Brittain as CEO-designate on September 28th.    On the economic front, the results of a survey by the Zew Institute showed that economic sentiment in the euro area slowed more than expected in June. The economic sentiment index fell about 10 points to 31.5, while economists expected a reading of 37.3.     The European Automobile Manufacturers Association reported that passenger car sales in the European Union rose 1.3 percent year-over-year in May, markedly slower than the 6.9 percent growth in April. The sales growth was the slowest in about 2 years.    A report released by the U.K. Office for National Statistics showed that annual consumer price inflation in the U.K. came in at 0.1 percent in May following a -0.1 percent rate in April. On a monthly basis, consumer prices were up 0.2 percent. Both the rates matched economists' expectations.     A separate report showed that U.K. output prices fell 1.6 percent year-over-year but rose 0.1 percent compared to the previous month. At the same time, input prices declined 12 percent year-over-year and by 0.9 percent month-over-month.    Revised consumer price inflation data released by the German Federal Statistical Office showed that consumer prices in Germany rose 0.7 percent year-over-year in May, in line with the preliminary estimate and the fastest rate since October 2014.    U.S. Economic Reports    The 2-day FOMC meeting gets underway today, although a decision is not expected until tomorrow.    After reporting a sharp jump in new residential construction in the U.S. in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report showing that housing starts pulled back by more than expected in the month of May.    The report said housing starts tumbled 11.1 percent to an annual rate of 1.036 million in May from the revised April estimate of 1.165 million. Economists had expected starts to drop to an annual rate of 1.090 million from the 1.135 million originally reported for the previous month. 

Meanwhile, the report said building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, jumped 11.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.275 million in May from the revised April rate of 1.140 million. The increase in building permits came as a surprise to economists, who had expected permits to drop to a rate of 1.105 million.    Stocks in Focus    Gap (GPS) announced a series of strategic actions, including the closure of about 175 North American specialty stores and a limited number of European stores over the next few years. The actions also include the elimination of about 250 positions, primarily in North America, in fiscal year 2015.     Upon implementation of these actions, Gap estimates annualized sales loss of about $300 million and one-time costs of about $140 million to $160 million. Beginning in 2016, the company expects annualized savings of about $25 million.    Reports suggest that Coty (COTY) has won auctions to buy three businesses - hair care, fragrance and cosmetics - from Procter & Gamble (PG) for about $12 billion.    A Wall Street Journal report suggested that UnitedHealth (UNH) has approached Aetna (AET) about a possible $40 billion takeover deal.    Weatherford International (WFT) said it has been selected to be included in the broad market Russell 3000 Index, effective upon the close of trading on June 26th, 2015.    Adobe Systems (ADBE), La-Z-Boy (LZB) and Bob Evans (BOBE) are among the companies due to release their quarterly results after the close of trading.