By Peter Nurse
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are seen opening marginally higher Tuesday, recovering after the previous session’s weakness sparked by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggesting the central bank could lift interest rates more quickly than expected.
At 7 AM ET (1100 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 160 points, or 0.5%, S&P 500 Futures traded 16 points, or 0.4%, higher, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 50 points, or 0.4%.
The three main indexes on Wall Street closed lower Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping over 200 points, or 0.6%, breaking a five-day winning streak, the S&P 500 fell marginally and the NASDAQ Composite declined 0.4% after Fed chief Powell vowed Monday to take the “necessary steps” to curb inflation.
“If we conclude that it is appropriate to move more aggressively by raising the federal funds rate by more than 25 basis points at a meeting or meetings, we will do so,” Powell said.
The Fed raised the benchmark lending rate by a quarter point at its meeting last week, the first increase since December 2018.
Also helping the tone were strong numbers from Nike (NYSE:NKE), with the world’s biggest sportswear maker beating third-quarter revenue and profit expectations, helped by strong demand in North America. The retailer also stated that manufacturing issues that have hurt sales over the past six months were now behind it.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) unveiled its new European production hub in Germany earlier Tuesday, while Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) raised its share buyback program by $9 billion to $25 billion, the Chinese e-commerce giant’s largest ever repurchase plan.
Cruise operator Carnival (NYSE:CCL) is set to report earnings before the bell on Tuesday, followed by software giant Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) after the bell.
Elsewhere, investors will keep a wary eye on developments in eastern Europe, with Russian troops continuing to bombard several Ukrainian cities, and the Black Sea port of Mariupol in particular.
Ukraine would hold a referendum on the terms of any peace agreement with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a televised interview late Monday.
The economic data slate Tuesday includes numbers from Redbook Research and the Richmond Fed.
Oil prices fell Tuesday, handing back some of the previous session’s extended gains, while European Union governments continue to discuss joining the United States in sanctioning Russian oil in return for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities by Iranian-aligned Houthis over the weekend have also added jitters to the market.
By 7 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.5% lower at $109.43 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.2% to $115.35. Both contracts had settled up more than 7% on Monday.
U.S. crude oil supply data from the American Petroleum Institute are due later in the day.
Additionally, gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,928.40/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% lower at 1.1004.