Stock futures were slightly lower Tuesday as traders analyzed the strong gains seen throughout November and the trading month nears its end. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures shed 45 points, or 0.1%, as S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell about 0.3% each. Shares of Zscaler slid about 4.8% in the premarket. The cloud security company maintained its expectations for fiscal 2024 billings of $2.52 billion to $2.56 billion. Zscaler otherwise posted adjusted earnings and revenue that came ahead of expectations in the fiscal first quarter. The moves follow a losing day on Wall Street. The Dow and S&P 500 both finished Monday’s session around 0.2% lower, while the Nasdaq Composite inched down nearly 0.1%. Monday’s modest retreat comes near the end of November’s strong trading month, which concludes with Thursday’s close. The Dow and S&P 500 are on pace to finish the month 6.9% and 8.5% higher, respectively. The technology-heavy Nasdaq has climbed 10.8% in November. “On balance, equities appear to be in pause mode following strong November returns and in anticipation of holiday spending trends,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “The tug of war between bull and bear camps remains balanced. And that, in our view, suggests that market chop is perhaps more the norm versus exception.” Traders will follow economic data on topics including housing prices and consumer confidence due Tuesday morning. On the earnings front, CrowdStrike is expected to report earnings after the bell. Investors will also track a slate of Federal Reserve officials set to deliver remarks throughout the day. Those speakers include Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, as well as Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman. Tuesday is another fairly slow morning for the market as investors await this week’s major catalysts, including earnings, inflation data and the OPEC+ meeting, according to Vital Knowledge’s Adam Crisafulli. “The big focus for Tues will be on sell-side conference presentations and earnings after the close (CRWD, HPE, INTU, NTAP, SPLK, and WDAY are the major ones),” Crisafulli wrote in an email, adding that U.S. home prices for September, the Conference board conference survey for November and the Richmond Fed manufacturing index for November are other key items for the day. Fresh inflation data will be released Thursday. So far, he noted that central bankers haven’t said anything out of the ordinary this week and economic data has also been minimal. U.S. Treasury yields were slightly higher on Tuesday, as investors awaited the release of economic data that could provide hints about the economic outlook. The 2-year Treasury yield was up by about 3 basis points at 4.885%. The 10-year Treasury yield was 2 basis points higher at 4.4%. Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Tuesday, a day after the region saw all its major indexes end the day in negative territory. South Korea’s Kospi was up 1.05%, leading gains in Asia and ending at 2,521.76, while the small-cap Kosdaq saw a smaller gain of 0.76% and ended at 816.44. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.39% and closed at 7,015.2, ahead of its October inflation readings on Wednesday. Japan’s markets slipped lower, with the Nikkei 225 shedding 0.12% and closing at 33,408.39. The Topix fell 0.21% to 2,376.71. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index tumbled 1.02% in its final hour of trade, also extending its losses from Monday, but the mainland Chinese CSI 300 index reversed earlier losses to rise 0.19% and finish at 3,518.52. Oil prices rose on Tuesday with the Brent benchmark rising above $80 a barrel, supported by expectations that the OPEC+ producer group may deepen and extend output cuts due to concern over softer global demand. OPEC+, which combines the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, will hold an online ministerial meeting on Thursday to discuss production targets for 2024. Brent crude futures were up 81 cents, or 1%, at $80.79 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 83 cents, or 1.1%, at $75.69. Gold held its ground on Tuesday after touching a six-month peak, buoyed by expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve has concluded its interest rate hikes, ahead of the release of key economic data. Spot gold edged up around 0.02% to $2,015.10 per ounce, after hitting its highest since May 16 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.2% to $2,015.80 per ounce. “Gold continues to derive support from a broadly weaker dollar and falling Treasury yields as expectations mount over the Fed cutting interest rates in 2024,” FXTM senior research analyst Lukman Otunuga said.
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