Futures Pointing To Initial Weakness On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a modestly lower opening on Tuesday following the long, holiday weekend. Trading activity on the day is likely to remain relatively subdued, as many traders remain away from their desks following Christmas.

Volume may remain light throughout the week, although some traders may look to do some window dressing going into the end of the year.

With many traders away from their desks, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Friday. The major averages spent much of the day in negative territory before closing modestly lower.

The major averages ended the session in negative territory but off their worst levels of the day. The Dow dipped 28.23 points or 0.1 percent to 24,754.06, the Nasdaq edged down 5.40 points or 0.1 percent to 6,959.96 and the S&P 500 slipped 1.23 points or 0.1 percent to 2,683.34.

Despite the slight drop on the day, the major averages moved moderately higher for the week. The Dow climbed by 0.4 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both rose by 0.3 percent.

Activity on Wall Street remained light throughout the day, as many traders looked to get a head start on the Christmas weekend.

Traders shrugged off the slew of U.S. economic data released this morning, including a Commerce Department report showing a spike in new home sales to a ten-year high in November.

The Commerce Department said new home sales surged up by 17.5 percent to an annual rate of 733,000 in November from the revised October rate of 624,000.

Economists had expected new home sales to drop to 654,000 from the 685,000 originally reported for the previous month.

With the unexpected jump, new home sales in November were at their highest annual rate since reaching 778,000 in July of 2007.

Before the start of trading, the Commerce Department released a separate showing a rebound in durable goods orders in the month of November.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders surged up by 1.3 percent in November after falling by a revised 0.4 percent in October.

The increase in orders came in below economist estimates for a 2.0 percent jump, although the revised drop in the previous month was much smaller than the 0.8 percent decrease that had been reported.

Excluding a rebound in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders edged down by 0.1 percent in November after spiking by a revised 1.3 percent in October.

Another Commerce Department showed a smaller than expected increase in personal income in the month of November, while personal spending climbed by more than expected.

The report said personal income rose by 0.3 percent in November after climbing by 0.4 percent in October. Economists had expected another 0.4 percent increase.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said personal spending climbed by 0.6 percent in November after edging up by 0.2 percent in October. Spending had been expected to rise by 0.5 percent.

Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the lackluster close by the broader markets.

Trucking stocks saw significant strength, however, with the Dow Jones Trucking Index jumping by 1.8 percent. With the gain, the index reached a record closing high.

YRC Worldwide (YRCW) and Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) turned in two of the trucking sector's best performances on the day.

Gold stocks also moved notably higher amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, while some weakness was visible among electronic storage and internet stocks.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are inching up $0.06 to $58.53 a barrel after edging up $0.11 to $58.47 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $1,284.60, up $5.80 from the previous session's close of $1,278.80. On Friday, gold climbed $8.20.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 113.30 yen compared to the 113.26 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1853 compared to last Friday's $1.1870.

Asia

Asian markets turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday, with trading light as some of the markets in the region remained closed for Christmas holidays.

With no market-moving catalysts to warrant significant activity, the mood was quite subdued in the markets where trading was on today.

Japanese stocks ended modestly lower, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index slipping 46.49 points or 0.2 percent to 22,892.69.

Toho Zinc, Nippon Yusen KK, Sumco Corp., Furukawa Electric, IHI Corp. and Showa Denko KK shed 2 to 3.4 percent.

Shares of clothing retailer Shimamura Co declined sharply after the company's operating profit declined 11.3 percent in the nine months to November.

Meanwhile, Takashimaya ended 3.7 percent higher after the company reported a 5.6 percent jump in operating profit for the nine months ended November thanks to a significant increase in demand.

The South Korean market saw some buying early on in the session but failed to hold gains and ended lower. The KOSPI declined 13.20 points or 0.54 percent to 2,427.34.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 25.43 points or 0.8 percent to 3,305.89, while the markets in Hong Kong remained closed.

Europe

The major European markets remain closed on the day in celebration of Boxing Day.

U.S. Economic Reports

The economic calendar for the week starts off relatively quiet, although reports on consumer confidence, pending home sales and Chicago business activity are due to be released in the coming days.

At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of its auction of $26 billion worth of two-year notes.

Stocks In Focus

Shares of Apple (AAPL) are seeing pre-market weakness after a report from Taiwan's Economic Daily said the tech giant's first quarter iPhone X sales will drop to 30 million.

Semiconductor giant Intel (INTC) may also move to the downside after Japan's Nikkei newspaper said the company will drop out of the top slot for semiconductor sales this year.

On the other hand, shares of Sucampo Pharmaceuticals (SCMP) are likely to see early strength after the drug maker agreed to be acquired by Mallinckrodt (MNK) for $1.2 billion.