Stocks May Extend Yesterday's Upward Move - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After turning higher over the course of the previous session, stocks may see continued strength in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 43 points.

The markets may continue to benefit from the recent upward momentum on Wall Street, which has helped lift the major averages to their best levels in months.

With the rebound seen during trading on Monday, the Dow climbed above the 18,000 level for the first time since last July.

Early buying interest may also be generated by strength in the overseas markets, with Japanese stocks seeing a substantial rebound on the day.

The strength overseas is partly due to an increase by the price of crude oil, as the commodity climbs further off yesterday's early lows.

Crude for May delivery is currently climbing $0.47 to $40.25 a barrel. The price of oil ended the previous session down $0.58 at $39.78 a barrel but well off its low of $37.61 a barrel.

Traders are also digesting the latest batch of earnings news, with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and UnitedHealth (UNH) reporting better than expected first quarter results and raising their full-year guidance.

Financial giant Goldman Sachs (GS) also reported better than expected first quarter earnings, although its revenues came in below analyst estimates.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department recently released a report showing a sharp pullback in housing starts in the month of March.

The report said housing starts tumbled by 8.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.089 million in March after jumping by 6.9 percent to a revised 1.194 million in February.

Economists had expected housing starts to dip by about 0.9 percent to a rate of 1.167 million compared to the 1.178 million originally reported for the previous month.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, also slumped by 7.7 percent to a rate of 1.086 million in March from a revised 1.177 million in February.

The decrease surprised economists, who had expected building permits to climb 2.8 percent to a rate of 1.200 million from the 1.167 originally reported for the previous month.

After initially coming under pressure, stocks showed a significant turnaround over the course of the trading day on Monday before closing mostly higher.

The major averages finished the day just off their highs for the session. The Dow climbed 106.70 points or 0.6 percent to 18,004.16, the Nasdaq rose 21.80 points or 0.4 percent to 4,960.02 and the S&P 500 advanced 13.61 points or 0.7 percent to 2,094.34.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region showed a strong move back to the upside on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged up by 3.7 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.3 percent.

The major European markets have also moved notably higher on the day. While the German DAX Index has shot up by 2.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.4 percent.

In commodities trading, an ounce of gold is currently trading at $1,251.80, up $16.80 from the previous session's close of $1,235. On Monday, gold rose $0.40. On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 109.22 yen compared to the 108.82 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1358 compared to yesterday's $1.1313.