Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Point to Higher Open as Market Looks to Recover From Selloff

Major U.S. indexes rose in early trading Tuesday, recovering from the previous session’s sharp downturn, as large-cap technology stocks moved higher. 

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up fractionally. The major indexes, which entered the week near all-time highs, tumbled on Monday as oil prices surged amid concerns about Middle East tensions and expectations for big interest rate cuts subsided following last week’s strong jobs report.

Large-cap tech stocks were higher across the board early Tuesday, led by AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), which was up nearly 2%. Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Broadcom (AVGO) were also moving higher. Nvidia surpassed Microsoft yesterday to become the second-largest company by market capitalization.

Shares of PepsiCo (PEP) were up about 0.5% despite reporting quarterly results that came in short of expectations. The earnings reporting season kicks into high gear later in the week when big banks are scheduled to report their results.

Crude oil futures were down about 3%, giving back some of the gains that have been posted over the past week amid rising concerns that an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East could threaten global oil supply. The S&P 500 energy sector was down nearly 3%, as some of the companies that had surged in line with the recent oil price gains, such as Marathon Petroleum (MPC), Phillips 66 (PSX) and Halliburton (HAL) fell sharply.

The economic data calendar is light on Tuesday but picks up significantly later in the week with the release of closely watched inflation data and the latest reading on consumer sentiment. Investors will be watching the numbers closely for further confirmation that the economy is on sound footing, while also looking for clues about how aggressive the Federal Reserve will be as it cuts interest rates. The Fed cut its benchmark fed funds rate for the first time in four years last month.

Following the strong jobs report on Friday, market participants now believe it’s likely the Fed will make two quarter-percentage-point cuts in the benchmark rate before the end of the year, according to fed fund futures trading data. Before the jobs report, markets were pricing in the likelihood that the central bank would announce a half-point cut at the Fed’s next policy meeting in November, as well as a cut in December.

The yield on 10-year Treasurys was up to 4.05%, after jumping above 4% on Monday for the first time in two months as market hopes for big rate cuts dimmed.

Gold futures were down slightly at around $2,660 an ounce, while bitcoin was down about 1% to around $62,800.