By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening higher Tuesday, carrying on the recent positive tone ahead of the release of a slew of corporate earnings, particularly from social media giant Facebook (NASDAQ:FB).
At 7 AM ET (1100 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 125 points, or 0.4%, S&P 500 Futures traded 18 points, or 0.4%, higher, while Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 80 points, or 0.5%.
The major indices all closed higher on Wall Street Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 finishing at record highs after gaining 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively. The Nasdaq Composite was the outperformer, rising 0.9%, and the tech-heavy index is now around 1% below its record high.
Facebook posted better-than-expected net profit of $9 billion for the third quarter after the close Monday, up from $7.8 billion last year, but still struggling with the challenges posed by Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) changes to its privacy rules and the bad press associated with leaked internal documents. The company also announced a $50 billion increase to its stock buyback program.
The major tech earnings continue later Tuesday, with Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) due to release third quarter numbers after the close. Reports from the likes of 3M (NYSE:MMM), Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), General Electric (NYSE:GE), United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) and Visa (NYSE:V) will also be studied.
Also of interest Tuesday will be Uber (NYSE:UBER), after the ride-hailing and food delivery company agreed to launch a new rapid grocery delivery service in Paris with Carrefour (PA:CARR), Europe’s largest retailer.
The main economic release Tuesday will be September’s new home sales, which are expected to have grown by 760,000 in the month, up from 740,000 in August.
Crude prices stabilized Tuesday after the recent strong rally and ahead of the release of the latest U.S. stockpiles from the American Petroleum Institute, a guide to demand in the world’s biggest consumer of oil.
Oil prices have more than doubled over the last year, helped by strong demand in the United States, as the world’s largest economy recovers from the damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Crude oil stockpiles are expected to have risen by 1.7 million barrels last week, according to a Reuters poll, but gasoline and distillate inventories are expected to fall.
By 7 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded flat at $83.75 a barrel, while the Brent contract also traded flat at $85.17.
Additionally, gold futures traded 0.2% lower at $1,803.15/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.1623.