U.S. Stocks May See Another Initial Advance On Reports Trump Looking To End War

(RTTNews) - After turning lower over the course of the previous session, stocks are likely to move back to the upside in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a sharply higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 1.2 percent.

Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to reports President Donald Trump is looking to end the war in the Middle East.

A report from the Wall Street Journal said Trump told aides he's willing to end the U.S. military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.

Citing administration officials, the WSJ said Trump and his aides assessed that a mission to pry open the Strait of Hormuz would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks.

The officials told the Journal that Trump would continue to pressure Tehran diplomatically to resume the free flow of trade through the strait, failing which he would pressure allies to take the lead.

Trump appeared to back up the report in a post on Truth Social this morning urging allies to "build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT."

"You'll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won't be there to help you anymore, just like you weren't there for us," Trump said. "Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!"

Not long after the start of trading, MNI Indicators is scheduled to release its report on Chicago-area business activity in the month of March. The Chicago business barometer is expected to drop to 54.0 in March from 57.7 in February, but a reading above 50 would still indicate growth.

The Conference Board is also due to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of March. The consumer confidence index is expected to fall to 88.5 in March after rising to 91.2 in February.

In addition, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its report on job openings in the month of February. Job openings are expected to dip to 6.920 million in February from 6.946 million in January.

Stocks showed a strong move to the upside in early trading on Monday but gave back ground over the course of the session. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ending the day in negative territory.

The Nasdaq slid 153.72 points or 0.7 percent to 20,794.64 and the S&P 500 fell 25.13 points or 0.4 percent to 6,343.72, dropping to their lowest closing levels in nearly eight months.

The narrower Dow, on the other hand, inched up 49.50 points or 0.1 percent to 45,216.14 after briefly dipping into the red in the final hour of trading.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.6 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index slid by 0.8 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged up by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.6 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 0.9 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are inching up $0.06 to $102.94 a barrel after surging $3.24 to $102.88 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after climbing $33.50 to $4,526 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $54.70 to $4,580.70 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 159.38 yen compared to the 159.72 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1506 compared to yesterday's $1.1465.