The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction after moving notably higher over the past several sessions.
Traders may take a breather to assess the recent rally on Wall Street, which has lifted the major averages to new record highs following former President Donald Trump’s decisive victory in last week’s presidential election.
Trump’s return to the White House is expected to be positive for corporations and the U.S. economy, although there are some concerns about the effect planned tariff increases will have on inflation.
A lack of major U.S. economic data may also keep some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of closely watched reports in the coming days.
A highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation is due to be released on Wednesday, while reports on producer price inflation, retail sales and industrial production are likely to attract attention later in the week.
U.S. stocks closed on a firm note on Monday, lifting the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record highs, even as the Nasdaq settled flat as technology stocks turned in a subdued performance.
Investors remained optimistic that Donald Trump’s policies such as tax reductions and deregulation would help boost corporate earnings.
The volume of business was somewhat thin in the absence of economic data, and due to a lack of significant triggers. Over the next few days, reports on consumer and producer price inflation are likely to attract attention along with reports on retail sales and industrial production this week.
The Dow, which climbed to 44,486.70, subsequently gave up some gains but stayed firm throughout the session to settle at 44,293.13, up 304.14 points or 0.7 percent from previous close. The S&P 500 closed up 5.81 points or 0.1 percent at 6,001.35, after having advanced to a new high at 6,017.31. The Nasdaq, which spent much of the day’s session in negative territory, eked out a small gain of 11.99 points or 0.1 percent, settling at 19,298.76.
Tesla surged about 9 percent. Salesforce jumped more than 6 percent. PayPal rallied 4.7 percent. Starbucks closed up 3.2 percent and Airbnb gained 2.7 percent.
American Express, Goldman Sachs, United Health, JPMorgan Chase, Walt Disney, Alphabet, Home Depot, Mastercard, Cisco, Visa, Bank of America, Netflix and Nike gained 1 to 2.5 percent.
Apple Inc., Analog Devices, Micron Technology and Intel closed weak. Moderna tumbled about 7 percent. Merck, Boeing, Nvidia, Amazon, Nvidia and Microsoft also ended notably lower.