Tuesday November 15th

U.S. stock markets index futures rose Tuesday as traders looked ahead to the release of more key U.S. inflation data. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 206 points, or 0.6%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures gained 1% and 1.5%, respectively. Walmart shares jumped in premarket trading after the company beat Wall Street earnings and revenue estimates and boosted full-year guidance. Home Depot reported strong results too but kept guidance in place for the full-year. Its shares dipped slightly. The producer price index, which measures wholesale inflation, is set for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. The report comes after the latest consumer price index data showed signs of inflationary pressure abating last month, thus sparking a sharp rally to end trading last week. “After last week’s CPI undershoot prompted a huge equity rally & reversal in the Dollar, the critical topic for markets this week will be the Fed’s reaction,” wrote Huw Roberts, head of analytics at Quant Insight, in a Monday note. Federal Reserve governors Christopher Waller and Lael Brainard spoke Sunday and Monday, respectively, about the potential future path of monetary policy. Waller said the market was overly optimistic and should brace for higher rates, while Brainard said the central bank could ease off rate increases. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, Fed Governor Lisa Cook and Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr are set to speak Tuesday. Elsewhere, Taiwan Semiconductor, Louisiana-Pacific and Paramount jumped after regulatory filings showed that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had bought new positions in the first two, and raised its stake in the last. Earnings season continues this week with retail reports from Target, Lowe’s, Bath and Body Works, Macy’s, Kohl’s and Foot Locker on deck. Shares in the Asia-Pacific were mostly higher on Tuesday following the meeting between its president Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 4.11% higher, closing at 18,343.12, lifted by the Hang Seng Tech index that climbed 7.3%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite advanced 1.64% to 3,134.08, while the Shenzhen Component also gained 2.14% to 11,351.33 as the country’s industrial production and retail sales data fell short of expectations. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.07% to 7,141.60. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.23% to 2,480.33 and the Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.1% to 27.990.17 as the nation’s economy unexpectedly contracted in the third quarter, official data showed. Oil prices fell on Tuesday as rising Covid-19 cases in China renewed fears of lower fuel consumption from the world’s top crude importer. Brent crude futures fell 47 cents, or 0.5%, to $92.67 a barrel after settling 3% lower on Monday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell by 55 cents, or 0.6%, to $85.32, after tumbling 3.5% in the previous session. Gold prices scaled a three-month peak on Tuesday, as the dollar pulled back after U.S. Federal Reserve officials signaled a slower pace of interest rate hikes. Spot gold was last up 0.2% at $1,775.35 per ounce, after hitting its highest since Aug. 15 earlier. U.S. gold futures gained 0.09% to $1,778.50 per ounce.