The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to add to the strong gains posted last week.
The markets may benefit from optimism President Donald Trump will take a more lenient approach to tariffs after he refrained from imposing immediate tariffs on his first day back in office.
Stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Friday, with the major averages more than offsetting the losses posted in the previous session. With the upward move, the Dow ended the day at its best closing level in a month.
The major averages pulled back off their best levels in the latter part of the session but remained firmly positive. The Nasdaq surged 291.91 points or 1.5 percent to 19,630.20, the S&P 500 jumped 59.32 points or 1.0 percent to 5,996.66 and the Dow climbed 334.70 points or 0.8 percent to 43,487.83.
The major averages also posted strong gains for the week. The Dow soared by 3.7 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq shot up by 2.9 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.
Stocks may have benefitted from the recent decrease by treasury yields even though the yield on the benchmark ten-year note recovered from an early slump to end the day roughly flat.
The recent retreat by treasury yields came as the U.S. inflation data released over the past few days led to renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.
Adding to the interest rate optimism, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller told CNBC the central bank could lower interest rates multiple times this year if inflation eases as he is expecting.
“As long as the data comes in good on inflation or continues on that path, then I can certainly see rate cuts happening sooner than maybe the markets are pricing in,” Waller said during an interview with Sara Eisen on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Thursday.
Waller said the number of rate cuts would be driven by the data, suggesting the Fed could cut rates three or four times if there is a lot of progress on inflation or cut rates twice or only once if inflation remains sticky.
The strength on Wall Street may also have reflected optimism about the outlook for the markets under President-elect Donald Trump, who is due to be sworn in for the second time on Monday.
Stocks surged in reaction to Trump’s election in November amid expectations of more pro-business policies in the new administration, although there are also concerns about the impact of proposed tariffs.
In U.S. economic news, the Federal Reserve released a report showing industrial production increased by much more than expected in the month of December.
The Fed said industrial production jumped by 0.9 percent in December after rising by a revised 0.2 percent in November.
Economists had expected industrial production to climb by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.1 percent dip originally reported for the previous month.
Semiconductor stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 2.8 percent.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) posted a notable gain after KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded its rating on the company’s stock to Overweight from Sector Weight.
Significant strength was also visible among retail stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index.
Banking, brokerage and software stocks also saw notable strength, while pharmaceutical stocks showed a substantial move to the downside.
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