Markets Set To Finish Strong Year On Positive Note

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a modestly higher opening on Tuesday, with sentiment reflecting some confidence returning to the markets after the lackluster showing of the previous two sessions. The year was an event filled one for the markets, as the Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 Index have been scaling peaks session after session, with the former up roughly 26 percent for the year, while the latter is up 29 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has outperformed with roughly 38 percent gains.

An extremely accommodative policy stance, pointers towards a strong recovery even as the stimulus withdrawal talks doing the rounds and alleviation of fiscal concerns have helped the markets put up a strong showing for the year. That said, fundamental soundness of the recovery is still in doubt. It remains to be seen if the momentum can carry through into the New Year amid the uncertainties. Going into the final session of the year, the markets could take cues from a regional manufacturing and consumer confidence readings.

U.S. stocks moved about in a lackluster fashion on Monday amid jitters over the overbought levels of the markets before closing mixed. The major averages opened higher but turned mixed in early trading. Thereafter, the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 Index languished below the unchanged line before closing marginally lower. The Nasdaq Composite ended down 2.40 points or 0.06 percent at 1,841 and the S&P 500 Index closed 0.33 points or 0.02 percent lower at 1,841. Meanwhile, the Dow Industrials held above the unchanged line for the better of the session, ending up 25.88 points or 0.16 percent at a fresh record high of 16,504.

Nineteen of the thirty Dow components closed higher and two stocks ended unchanged, while the remaining stock receded. Disney (DIS), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Intel (INTC) and Coca-Cola (KO) were among the biggest gainers of the session, while Exxon Mobil (XOM) declined sharply.

Airline stocks saw some strength, while gold stocks came under selling pressure.

On the economic front, the National Association of Realtors reported that pending home sales edged up a less than expected 0.2 percent month-over-month in November. On a year-over-year basis, the index was down 1.6 percent. Pending home sales fell in the Northeast and Midwest, while pending home sales rose in the South and the West.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are rising $0.67 to $98.62 a barrel after sliding $1.03 to $99.29 a barrel on Monday. Gold futures are currently declining $7.20 to $1,196.60 an ounce. In the previous session, gold fell $10.20 to $1,203.80 an ounce.

Among currencies, the U.S. dollar is trading at 104.96 yen compared to the 105.15 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.3770 compared to yesterday's $1.3801.

Asia

The major Asian markets that remained open for trading showed subdued activity amid light trading volumes in the last session of the year. The Indonesian, Japanese and South Korean markets were closed for public holidays.

Australia's All Ordinaries opened lower but recovered in late afternoon trading. After seeing some uncertain moments, the index closed a truncated session down 4.90 points or 0.09 percent at 5,353. Energy, healthcare and material stocks moved to the downside.

China's Shanghai Composite Index showed some nervousness in early trading before advancing sharply in late morning trading. Thereafter, the average moved roughly sideways for the rest of the session before closing up 18.45 points or 0.88 percent at 2,116.

Meanwhile, the Taiwanese Weighted Average Index was up 11.92 points or 0.14 percent at 8,612 at the close of trading.

Among the averages in the region, Australia's All Ordinaries added 14.25 percent for the year, while China's Shanghai Composite ended the year down 7.56 percent, as worries over a hard landing and slowing economic growth curbed investor appetite for Chinese equities.

The Nikkei 225 average in Japan closed at a 6-year high of 16,291, up 56.72 percent for the year. The domestic market was the beneficiary of the three arrow strategy formulated by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to fight deflation.

Europe

The French and the U.K. Markets are trading higher in a truncated session, while the German market is closed. The markets capitalized on the alleviation of the debt crisis and the general increase in risk appetite.

France's CAC 40 Index is on track to record gains in excess of 17 percent for the year compared to the FTSE's 14 percentage plus. Meanwhile, the German DAX Index is up 25.48 percent for the year and closed the year at a record high.

U.S. Economic Reports

Standard & Poor's will release its S&P/Case-Shiller house price index for October at 9 am ET. Economists expect house prices to have increased 1 percent month-over-month on a seasonally adjusted basis, the same pace of growth as in the previous month. On an unadjusted basis, the house price index is expected to have surged up 13.7 percent year-over-year.

MNI Indicators is scheduled to release the results of its manufacturing survey for the Chicago region at 9:45 am ET. The consensus estimates call for a decline in the index to 61.3 in December from 63 in November.

Manufacturing conditions in the region improved notably in October. The business barometer rose to 65.9 from 55.7, reaching the highest level since April 2011. The new order index jumped 15.4 points to 74.3 and the order backlog index climbed 14.3 points to 61. The employment index was up 4.5 points.

The Conference Board is due to release the results of its consumer confidence survey for December at 10 am ET. Economists expect the consumer confidence index to improve to 76.8 from 70.4 in November.

The consumer confidence index declined 2 points to 70.4 in November, coming in below expectations and dropping to the lowest level since April. The expectations index fell about 3 points, while the present situation index edged down 0.6 points.

Stocks in Focus

SM Energy (SM) announced that it has closed its previously announced Anadarko Basin divestiture package, receiving total proceeds of about $329 million. The company also said it will provide additional liquidity to fund the company's 2014 capital program.

Netflix (NFLX) announced that it has amended its stockholder rights plan to accelerate the expiration date to December 30th, 2013, effectively terminating the plan.