Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are currently pointing to a modestly lower open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to give back ground after moving notably higher over the past few sessions.
Traders may look to cash in on the recent strength in the markets, which saw the major averages rebound strongly after slumping early last week.
Tech stocks like Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) helped lead the recovery but are moving back to the downside in pre-market trading.
The futures edged lower following the release of a Commerce Department report showing the U.S. economy grew by much more than expected in the third quarter of 2025.
The Commerce Department said real gross domestic product spiked by 4.3 percent in the third quarter after surging by 3.8 percent in the second quarter. Economists had expected GDP to jump by 3.3 percent.
The much stronger than expected economic growth may lead to renewed uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a separate report showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods tumbled by more than expected in the month of October.
Extending the strong upward move seen over the two previous sessions, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day following the mixed performance seen in the previous week.
The major averages finished the day off their highs of the session but still firmly in positive territory. The Dow rose 227.79 points or 0.5 percent to 48,362.68, the Nasdaq climbed 121.21 points or 0.5 percent to 23,428.83 and the S&P 500 advanced 43.99 points or 0.6 percent to 6,878.49.
The markets continued to benefit from strength among technology stocks, which helped lead the way higher last Thursday and Friday.
Shares of Oracle surged by 3.3 percent after Wells Fargo reiterated its Overweight rating on the software giant’s stock.
AI darling and market leader Nvidia also saw further upside after a report from Reuters said the company has told Chinese clients it aims to start shipping its second-most powerful AI chips to China before the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February.
Overall trading activity appeared somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.
Some traders may also be away from their desks as they look to get a head start on the Christmas Day holiday on Thursday.
Gold stocks saw substantial strength as the price of the precious metal soared to new record highs driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.3 percent to a record closing high.
Significant strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.
Steel, networking and telecom stocks also saw notable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.