Stocks May See Early Strength On Upbeat Durable Goods Data - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks may look to extend their recent upward trend during trading on Tuesday following the strength seen in the previous session. The major index futures are currently pointing to a slightly higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 11 points.

Early buying interest may be generated by the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing that new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods rose by much more than expected in the month of November.

The report said durable goods orders surged up by 3.5 percent in November following a revised 0.7 percent decrease in October. Economists had expected orders to increase by about 2.0 percent.

Excluding an 8.4 percent jump in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders still rose by 1.2 percent in November compared to economist estimates for a 0.7 percent increase.

The Commerce Department is schedule to release a separate report on new home sales in the month of November at 10 am ET. Economists expect new home sales to climb to an annual rate of 450,000.

New home sales jumped 25.4 percent to an annual rate of 444,000 in October after sliding 6.6 percent to 354,000 in September.

Nonetheless, trading activity is likely to be subdued, as the markets are scheduled to close at 1 pm ET. The Christmas Day holiday on Wednesday is also likely to keep traders away from their desks.

Stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, extending the strong upward move that was seen last week. The gains lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record highs, while the Nasdaq reached its best levels since 2000.

The major averages all ended the day firmly positive, although the Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts. While the Nasdaq jumped 44.16 points or 1.1 percent to 4,148.90, the Dow rose 73.47 points or 0.5 percent to 16,294.61 and the S&P 500 climbed 9.67 points or 0.5 percent to 1,827.99.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged up by 0.1 percent following a holiday on Monday, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up by 1.1 percent.

The major European markets also saw modest strength amid an abbreviated trading session. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively. The German markets remained closed on the day.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.23 to $99.14 a barrel after sliding $0.41 to $98.91 a barrel in the previous session. An ounce of gold is trading at $1,200.90, up $3.90 from $1,198.40 at the close of trading on Monday. Gold ended the previous session down $6.70 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 104.29 yen compared to the 104.11 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.3675 compared to yesterday's $1.3696.