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Investing.com — U.S. stock futures pointed to modest gains at the open on Tuesday as markets approached the halfway point of a year which has been characterized by rapidly tightening monetary policy from the Federal Reserve amid efforts to curb soaring inflation.
At 06:30 AM ET (1030 GMT), the Dow futures contract was up 150 points, or 0.5%, S&P 500 futures traded 17 points, or 0.4% higher, and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 42 points, or 0.4%.
Futures rebounded after Wall Street’s three main indices closed lower on Monday as last week’s comeback rally ran out of steam amid ongoing concerns over the prospect of recession brought on by rapid rate hikes as the Fed tries to stamp out inflation.
All three indexes are on course to notch two straight quarterly declines for the first time since 2015 and are also on track to post losses for June.
The banking sector is likely to be in focus after Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) announced Monday that they are increasing dividends after clearing their annual stress test exercises last week.
Nike (NYSE:NKE) stock traded lower premarket after the athletic footwear manufacturer reported disappointing first-quarter revenue as it wrestled with pandemic-related disruptions in China, its most profitable market.
On the economic data front, Tuesday’s main release is the Conference Board consumer confidence index for June at 10:00 AM ET (1400 GMT), with economists expecting a decline.
Data on house prices, the Fed’s Redbook, wholesale inventories and May’s goods trade balance are also due for release.
By 06:30 AM ET, U.S. crude futures rose $2.09 to $111.66 a barrel, while the Brent contract was up $2.32 or 2.1% to $113.31.
Additionally, gold futures were little changed at $1,825.80/oz, while the euro was trading at $1.0590.
