U.S. Stocks May Lack Direction Following Two-Day Surge

(RTTNews) - Following the rally seen over the two previous sessions, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by less than a tenth of a percent.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves following the two-day surge, which lifted the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to their best closing levels in over two months.

Uncertainty about the conflict in the Middle East may also keep some traders on the sidelines as they await additional details about another round of peace talks between the U.S. and Iran.

In an interview with Fox Business, President Donald Trump expressed confidence the war is "very close to over" and reiterated his claim that Iran wants to make a deal "very badly."

Trump also predicted that the "stock market is going to boom" when the conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran is finally over.

Despite the recent advance by stocks, Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell noted "there remains considerable uncertainty over a successful outcome from peace negotiations."

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing imports prices grew by much less than expected in the month of March.

The Labor Department said import prices climbed by 0.8 percent in March after increasing by a downwardly revised 0.9 percent in February.

Economists had expected import prices to surge by 2.0 percent compared to the 1.3 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said export prices shot up by 1.6 percent in March after surging by an upwardly revised 1.9 percent in February.

Economists had expected export prices to jump by 1.5 percent, matching the increase originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York unexpectedly showed a moderate increase in New York manufacturing activity in the month of April.

Stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Tuesday, extending the strong upward move seen over the course of Monday's session. The major averages all moved to the upside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the charge.

The major averages ended the day at or near their highs of the session. The Nasdaq surged 455.35 points or 2 percent to 23,639.08, the S&P 500 jumped 81.14 points or 1.2 percent to 6,967.38 and the Dow increased 317.74 points or 0.7 percent to 48,535.99.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.6 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is just above the unchanged line and the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are rising $0.30 to $91.58 a barrel after plummeting $7.80 to $91.28 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $4,834.20, down $15.90 compared to the previous session's close of $4,850.10. On Tuesday, gold jumped $82.70.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 159.11 yen compared to the 158.77 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1780 compared to yesterday's $1.1795.