U.S. Stocks May See Further Upside In Early Trading

Stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Tuesday, extending the upward move seen over the past few sessions. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.2 percent.

The futures edged up slightly following the release of a highly anticipated Labor Department report showing U.S. consumer prices inched up in line with economist estimates in the month of November.

The Labor Department said its consumer price index crept up by 0.1 percent in November after coming in unchanged in October. The uptick matched expectations.

Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices rose by 0.3 percent in November after edging up by 0.2 percent in October. The increase in core prices also came in line with estimates.

The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth slipped to 3.1 percent in November from 3.2 percent in October, while the annual rate of core consumer price growth was unchanged at 4.0 percent.

The modest slowdown in yearly price growth may add to optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will be looking to the accompanying statement and projections for signs the central bank could begin cutting rates next year.

Stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Monday but managed to end the day moderately higher. With the upward move, the major averages once again finished the session at their best closing level in well over two years.

The major averages closed just off their highs of the session. The Dow climbed 157.06 points or 0.4 percent to 36,404.93, the Nasdaq edged up 28.51 points or 0.2 percent to 14,432.49 and the S&P 500 rose 18.07 points or 0.4 percent to 4,622.44.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index are both up by 0.3 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are falling $0.67 to $70.65 a barrel after inching up $0.09 to $71.32 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after slumping $20.80 to $1,993.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are climbing $11.90 to $2,005.60 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 145.68 yen compared to the 146.16 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0778 compared to yesterday’s $1.0765.

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