Wall Street Stutters Despite Recent Sell-off

(RTTNews) - Trading in the U.S. index futures suggests that Wall Street stocks may open Tuesday's session lower, as key risk events loom ahead. The 2-day June FOMC meeting that gets underway could leave traders on the sidelines despite consensus expectations that the Fed is unlikely to move. Commodities are declining as the dollar firms up ahead of Wednesday's rate decision. Earlier in the global trading day, Asian stocks fell across the board, although the Chinese market withstood the sell-off. The European markets are also retreating steeply. The domestic markets may also keep an eye on the retail sales data due for the day.

As of 6:30 am ET, the Dow futures are declining 39 points, the S&P 500 futures are slipping 5 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures are receding 13.50 points.

U.S. stocks declined notably on Monday, extending the losing streak to three straight sessions, tracking the slide in oil prices.

On the economic front, the 2-day FOMC meeting gets underway later today, although the policy statement, Fed Chair Janet Yellen's press briefing and updated FOMC forecasts are not due until Wednesday.

?The Commerce Department is scheduled to release its retail sales report for May at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect a 0.3 percent month-over-month increase in retail sales and a 0.4 percent increase in retail sales, excluding autos.

Also at 8:30 am ET, the Labor Department is set to release its report on export and import prices for May. The consensus estimate calls for a 0.8 percent month-over-month jump in import prices, while export prices may have risen 0.2 percent.

The Commerce Department will also release its business inventories report for April at 10 am ET. Economists expect a 0.2 percent month-over-month increase in business inventories for the month.

In major corporate news, Baidu (BIDU) lowered its second quarter revenue guidance to $2.807 billion to $2.823 billion from its previous guidance of $3.119 billion ti $3192 billion. The company attributed the action to time delay in implementing new regulations and reduction in the number of sponsored link across the platform.

Sonus (SONS) announced that its CEO Mark Greenquist has resigned, effective June 15th, 2016 to take over a similar position at another company. The company also appointed Susan Villare, VP of Financial Planning and Analysis, as its interim CFO. The company also reconfirmed its second quarter and full year guidance issued on April 27th.   Most Asian markets retreated, led by the Australian, Japanese and New Zealand markets. Rate fears and Brexit worries continued to drive up risk aversion, impacting buying of equities. However, the Chinese and Taiwanese markets bucked the downtrend.

The Japanese market retreated as the yen remained elevated. The Nikkei 225 average of Japan ended up 160.18 points or 1 percent at a 2-month low of 15,859. The Australian market, which opened after Monday's public holiday, declined notably. The All Ordinaries o ended down 109.10 points or 2.02 percent at 5,283, the lowest close since April 27th.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended at nearly a 3-0week low of 20,388, down 125.46 points or 0.61 percent. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index ended at 2,842, up 9.12 points or 0.32 percent.

On the economic front, revised report released by Japan's Ministry of Finance showed that industrial production in Japan rose 0.5 percent month-over-month in April, ahead of the 0.3 percent growth estimated initially. In March, industrial output was up 3.8 percent. The growth in shipment was upwardly revised to 1.6 percent from 1.5 percent.

The results of a survey by the National Australia Bank showed that confidence among businesses in Australia receded in May. The index fell to 3 from 5 in April. However, the business conditions index was unchanged at 10.

European stocks opened lower and have been trading notably lower, in what could be their fifth straight session of losses. Brexit worries are strangulating whatever risk appetite that is remnant in the markets.

On the economic front, the U.K. Office for National Statistics reported that annual inflation in the U.K. Held steady at 0.3 percent in May, while economists expected a 0.4 percent rate . The monthly inflation rate was 0.2 percent compared to expectations of 0.3 percent.

Another report showed that output prices fell 0.7 percent year-over-year in May, the same rate as in April. Economists expected a 0.5 percent drop. Since July 2014, output prices have been declining. On a monthly basis, output prices fell 0.1 percent compared to a 0.3 percent drop in April. The year-over-year drop in input prices slowed to 3.9 percent in May from 7 percent in April, while economists expected a 5.1 percent decline.   Industrial production in the eurozone rose 2 percent year-over-year in April, according to a report released by Eurostat. This compares to expectations for a 1.4 percent increase. Monthly comparison showed a 1.1 percent rise compared to the 0.8 percent increase expected by economists.

Quarterly employment data released by Eurostat showed that employment rose 0.3 percent sequentially in the first quarter and was up 1.4 percent year-over-year.