U.S. stocks look set for a mixed opening on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures edging lower, while futures of the Nasdaq 100 index rose, following Monday’s lower close.
Oil prices rose amid ongoing indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran. While Iran expects a U.S. response “hopefully” by Tuesday, President Donald Trump dismissed reports of potential sanctions relief as a “HOAX,” insisting he has offered “NOTHING.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei warned that “it won’t be long before the Arabian Sea rids itself of their presence too” following “painful blows” dealt by “the valiant [Iranian] fighters.”
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 5.24%, and the 2-year Treasury bond yielded 4.94%, at the last check. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool projections show markets pricing in a 72.5% likelihood of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates after its October meeting.
| Index | Performance (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | -0.15% |
| S&P 500 | -0.02% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.14% |
| Russell 2000 | -0.08% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were mixed in premarket on Tuesday. The SPY was down 0.038% at $765.32, while the QQQ advanced 0.12% to $737.44.
Stocks In Focus
AAR
- AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) rose 4.21% in premarket on Tuesday after posting better-than-expected results for the first quarter and issuing a strong sales forecast for the second quarter
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that AIR maintains a weak price trend in the short and medium terms but a strong trend in the long term with a good quality score.
Vail Resorts
- Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE:MTN) was 1.84% lower in Tuesday premarket after reporting mixed results for the fourth quarter.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that MTN maintains a weak price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a poor growth score.
Nvidia
- Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) was 0.94% higher after it announced a $150 billion share repurchase authorization increase.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that NVDA maintains a strong price trend in the medium, short, and long term, with a poor value score.
Rtx
- Rtx Corp. (NYSE:RTX) was 0.4% higher as its Raytheon business won a $20.7 billion contract for missile production.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that RTX maintains a weak price trend in the short, long, and medium terms, with a good quality score.
Concentrix
- Concentrix Corp. (NASDAQ:CNXC) was 0.90% higher as analysts expect it to post quarterly earnings of $2.71 per share on revenue of $2.48 billion after the closing bell.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that CNXC maintains a weak price trend in the long term, but a strong trend in the short and medium terms.
Cues From Last Session
Consumer staples and health care stocks bucked the overall market trend to close the session higher, while communication services, consumer discretionary, and financial stocks recorded the biggest losses on Monday as most S&P 500 sectors closed on a negative note.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Dow Jones | -0.67% | 51,481.51 |
| S&P 500 | -0.77% | 7,683.69 |
| Nasdaq Composite | -0.92% | 26,820.38 |
| Russell 2000 | -0.69% | 2,817.91 |
Insights From Analysts
According to BlackRock’s weekly commentary, it remains “overweight U.S. and EM equities” because “strong corporate earnings, fueled by the AI buildout and a favorable macro backdrop, are outpacing higher interest rate expectations.”
Rather than broad market exposure or software-focused investments, the firm advises investors to “focus on AI bottleneck opportunities: power, chips and data centers.” This transition toward “physical AI” targets severe supply-demand imbalances, as the global infrastructure rollout is “speeding up, making bottlenecks binding.”
On the economic front, BlackRock suggests market fears regarding aggressive rate hikes are misplaced, noting that expectations for “further Fed tightening may be overstated.” Furthermore, a potential rate hike occurring alongside stronger economic growth is viewed as net good news for risk assets.
While slower labor supply growth may soften raw job gains, the firm expects hiring to remain near full employment levels. BlackRock anticipates this resilient labor market is “enough to keep wage pressures elevated and risk keeping inflation sticky,” creating a macroeconomic environment where long-term scarcity and power demand continue to carry persistent inflation risks.
Upcoming Economic Data
Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Tuesday.
- July’s S&P Case-Shiller home price index data will be released by 9:00 a.m. ET.
- September’s Conference Board consumer confidence index and August’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data will be out by 10:00 a.m. ET.
- Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee will speak at 1:00 p.m., and New York Fed President John Williams will speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Commodities, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets
Crude Oil WTI futures edged higher in the early New York session, rising 0.08% to hover around $92.67 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar rose 0.58% to hover around $4,139.29 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.15% higher at the 101.35 level.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 1.1% higher at $83,838 per coin over the last 24 hours.
Asian markets were lower on Tuesday, except China’s CSI 300 and Australia’s ASX 200 indices. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, Japan’s Nikkei 225, South Korea’s Kospi, and India’s Nifty 50 indices fell. European markets were higher in early trading.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
Login to comment