S&P 500 futures hovered near the flatline Tuesday morning as investors assessed the health of the consumer following weak retail sales data. Futures linked to the broad market index inched down by less than 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 25 points. Retail sales rose 0.1% in May, versus the 0.2% growth forecasted by economists polled by Dow Jones. Sales rose 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Treasury yields fell following the retail sales report, cushioning stock prices a bit with investors hoping for some economic slowing to spur the Federal Reserve to cut rates. Those moves follow a positive session on Wall Street that propelled the S&P 500 higher by nearly 0.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite finished with a gain of almost 1%. Both indexes reached all-time highs during the session and closed at records. The 30-stock Dow advanced about 0.5% to end four days of losses. “Investors are basically feeling the trend is my friend until it ends,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. “They don’t really see anything at this point that is going to cause this upward move to end.” Tech stocks performed well in the session, helping the tech-heavy Nasdaq outperform and aiding the broader S&P 500′s rise. Notably, Broadcom climbed more than 5%, while Apple jumped around 2%. Nvidia touched an all-time intraday record as State Street said the chipmaker would likely see a weighting of more than 20% in the rebalance of its popular exchange-traded fund focused on tech. But the stock rolled over, ending the day down 0.7%. Despite that pullback, shares are still up nearly 165% on the year. Other economic reports on topics like industrial production and business inventories are also expected in the morning. Several Federal Reserve officials including Boston Fed President Susan Collins and Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin are expected to speak at events across the country throughout the day. U.S. Treasury bond yields fell on Tuesday after a cool reading for May retail sales raised concerns about the strength of the economy. The 10-year Treasury yield was more than three basis points lower at 4.244%. The 2-year Treasury note yield was down nearly five basis points at 4.714%. Asia-Pacific markets rebounded on Tuesday as Wall Street rallied overnight, with investors assessing the Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate decision. The RBA held its benchmark interest rate at 4.35% for its fifth straight meeting, saying that inflation “remains above target and is proving persistent.” Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.01% after the decision, ending at 7,778.1. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1% to close at 38,482.11 after plunging almost 2% on Monday, while the Topix ended 0.58% higher at 2,715.76. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.72% to 2,763.92, led by gains in chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which rose about 2.18% and 5.16%, respectively. The small-cap Kosdaq ended the day flat. Automaker Hyundai also hit a fresh record, gaining about 1.62% on news that it plans to list its India unit in Mumbai. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was lower by 0.11%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 0.27% to end at 3,545.59. U.S. crude oil held above $80 per barrel on Tuesday, after starting the week with strong gains. West Texas Intermediate futures gained more than 2% on Monday, continuing a recent advance despite mixed economic data out of China, the world’s largest importer of crude oil. West Texas Intermediate July contract: $80.29 per barrel, down 5 cents. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has gained 12%. Brent August contract: $84.19 per barrel, down 6 cents. Year to date, the global benchmark is ahead by 9.3%. Gold prices edged higher on Tuesday as Treasury yields eased, with market participants awaiting U.S. data and comments from Federal Reserve officials for more clarity on the central bank’s roadmap for interest rate cuts. Spot gold was up 0.2% at $2,323.97 per ounce, as of 0326 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.4% to $2,339.00. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields edged lower, making gold more attractive, while the dollar held steady.
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