Stocks May Move Back To The Upside In Early Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Tuesday after ending the previous session modestly lower. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 132 points.

The upward momentum on Wall Street comes as stocks appear poised to extend the rebound seen after coming under pressure in early trading on Monday.

Traders felt the initial weakness on Monday was overdone in light of typical seasonal strength in the final month of the year.

Many traders are likely to remain on the sidelines, however, with the upcoming New Year's Day holiday keeping trading activity relatively subdued.

Standard & Poor's is scheduled to release its report on home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas in the month of October at 9 am ET.

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index is expected to climb by 0.6 percent in October, matching the increase seen in the previous month.

Not long after the start of trading, the Conference Board is also scheduled to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of December.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index is expected to rise to 93.5 in December after sliding to 90.4 in November.

After showing a notable move to the downside in early trading on Monday, stocks regained some ground as the day progressed but still closed mostly lower. The drop on the day partly offset the strong upward move seen last week.

The major averages ended the session in the red but well off their worst levels of the day. The Dow edged down 23.70 points or 0.1 percent to 17,528.27, the Nasdaq dipped 7.51 points or 0.2 percent to 5,040.99 and the S&P 500 fell 4.49 points or 0.2 percent to 2,056.50.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.4 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has risen by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are up by 1.6 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures for February delivery are climbing $0.56 to $37.37 a barrel after tumbling $1.29 to $36.81 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is currently trading at $1,070.20, up $1.80 from the previous session's close of $1,068.30. On Monday, gold fell $15.60.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 120.44 yen compared to the 120.40 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0921 compared to yesterday's $1.0968.