US pre-open: Futures rise ahead of key economic data

26th Mar 2024 10:33

(Sharecast News) - US stocks were set to rebound on Tuesday after two straight days of losses and ahead of a busy few days on the economic data front.

By 0701 in New York, pre-market trading was showing the Dow up 0.3%, the S&P 500 up 0.4% and the Nasdaq up 0.5%. Markets have pulled back over recent days with investors taking profits following fresh record highs for the three equity benchmarks last Thursday.

A number of important datapoints will be released in the coming days, including durable goods orders and consumer confidence figures on Tuesday.

Durable goods orders are expected to have bounced back by 1.3% in February after a massive 6.2% drop in January. Excluding transportation, orders are tipped to rise by 0.4% after the previous month's 0.4% decline.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board's US consumer confidence index for March will be released, with economists predicting a slight tick-up to 107 from February's 106.7 level.

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said the consumer confidence data will in sharp focus and could "reinforce or undermine the 'soft landing' narrative - with the Federal Reserve looking to tame inflation without causing too much economic damage in the process".

Later in the week, we'll see revisions to fourth-quarter GDP figures on Thursday and the all-important PCE price index - the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation - on Friday. However, markets will be closed on Friday for the Good Friday holiday.

In corporate news, Donald Trump's social-media company Truth Social will have its debut on the Nasdaq on Tuesday, with a valuation of $9bn. Results from McCormick and GameStop will also be on tap.