Stocks May Move Modestly Higher In Early Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session modestly lower, stocks may move back to the upside in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 17 points.

The futures remained positive following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing an unexpected drop in labor productivity in the second quarter.

The report showed that productivity fell by 0.5 percent in the second quarter after sliding by 0.6 percent in the first quarter. The decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected productivity to climb by 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said unit labor costs surged up by 2.0 percent in the second quarter after edging down by a revised 0.2 percent in the first quarter.

Economists had expected labor costs to climb by 1.8 percent compared to the 4.5 percent jump that had been reported for the previous quarter.

Shortly after the start of trading, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on wholesale inventories in the month of June.

Wholesale inventories are expected to come in unchanged in June after inching up by 0.1 percent in the previous month.

On the earnings front, entertainment giant Disney (DIS) is among the companies due to report their quarterly results after the close of today's trading.

Stocks saw modest weakness during trading on Monday, giving back some ground following the rally seen last Friday. With the modest drop on the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulled back off record closing highs.

The major averages finished the day just below the unchanged line. The Dow edged down 14.24 points or 0.1 percent to 18,529.29, the Nasdaq dipped 7.98 points or 0.2 percent to 5,213.14 and the S&P 500 slipped 1.98 points or 0.1 percent to 2,180.89.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index has climbed by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are up by 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slipping $0.06 to $42.96 a barrel after jumping $1.22 to $43.02 a barrel in the previous session. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is currently trading at $1,339.40, down $1.90 from the previous session's close of $1,341.30. On Monday, gold fell $3.10.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 102.09 yen compared to the 102.45 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1079 compared to yesterday's $1.1088.