Stock index futures are lower Tuesday in the wake of a rally in the previous session, but direction could go either way at the opening bell.
Nasdaq 100 futures (NDX:IND) -0.3%, S&P futures (SPX) -0.2% and Dow futures (INDU) -0.1% are off a bit.
Retail earnings will highlight the morning with results from Walmart and Home Depot.
More housing data arrives before the bell with July start and permits. Economists look for housing starts to have dipped to an annual rate of 1.54M, with permits slipping to 1.65M.
“The NAHB housing index, released yesterday, signaled ongoing weakness,” UBS chief economist Paul Donovan said. “There is underlying demand for housing (the US population is growing). However, while existing home owners have experienced falling costs in recent years, the costs for a new home owner have risen.”
Also ahead of trading, July industrial production arrives with the forecast for a 0.3% rise.
“The US is not as important a manufacturer as it used to be, but it does still matter to global supply,” Donovan said. “However, the economic debate has rather shifted from the supply side to concerns about the level of demand. It is the consumer who stands on the dividing line between slowdown and slump.”
Fed funds future still lean to a 50-basis-point rate hike next month.
Rates are little changed. The 10-year Treasury yield (US10Y) is up 1 basis point to 2.80% and the 2-year yield (US2Y) is flat at 3.20%.
There has been a “shift in the dominant narrative over the last couple of weeks, when there had actually been a small but growing hope that central banks might be able to execute a soft landing, not least after the much stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report for July,” Deutsche Bank’s Henry Allen wrote. “But ultimately, a number of leading indicators are still moving in the wrong direction, and yesterday’s releases served as a reminder that hard landings have historically been the norm when starting from a position as unfavourable as the present one.”
Elsewhere, amid 13F season many big-name funds took growth-stock stakes amid the Q2 downturn.
Read More: Nasdaq, S&P, Dow futures drift down after solid gains to start the week