Wall Street Might Open Slightly Down

(RTTNews) - Conflict in the Middle East has not subsided, with Iran striking with full intensity, despite President Donald Trump's decision for de-escalation.

Oil and gas prices are going up on Tuesday. In the Asian trading hours, brent crude futures were up more than 2 percent above $98 a barrel. The dollar index held gains while gold edged up slightly to hover above $4,400 an ounce.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower.

As of 7.40 am ET, the Dow futures were losing 42.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 5.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 10.75 points.

The U.S. major averages were down at the close on Monday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq plummeted 443.08 points or 2.0 percent to 21,647.61, while the S&P 500 tumbled 100.01 points or 1.5 percent to 6,506.48 and the Dow slumped 443.96 points or 1.0 percent to 45,577.47.

On the economic front, the Productivity and Costs for the fourth quarter will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus for non-farm productivity is an increase of 2.4 percent, while it was up 2.8 percent in the prior quarter. Unit Labor Costs is expected to grow by 3.0 percent, while it was up 2.8 percent in the prior quarter.

The flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index or PMI for March will be issued at 9.45 am ET. The consensus for manufacturing index is 51.0, while it was up 51.6 in the prior month.

The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index for March is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. In the prior month the Index was down 10.

The Fed Money Supply data for February will be released at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior month, the M2 Level was up $22.442 trillion.

Two-year Treasury Note auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

Federal Reserve Board Governor Michael Barr will speak on the economic outlook and community development before the National Community Investment Conference at 6.30 pm ET.

Asian stocks finished higher on Tuesday. China's Shanghai Composite index jumped 1.78 percent to 3,881.28. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rallied 2.79 percent to 25,063.71.

Japanese markets rebounded. The Nikkei average surged 1.43 percent to 52,252.28. The broader Topix index settled 2.10 percent higher at 3,559.67.

Australian markets ended modestly higher. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 edged up by 0.16 percent to 8,379.40. The broader All Ordinaries index closed up 0.22 percent at 8,571.30.