MW: U.S. stocks: Dow futures drop by more than 200 points
U.S. stocks on Tuesday looked poised to wipe out the prior day’s gain, with futures pointing to a sharply lower open.
Dow futures YMZ5, -1.37% fell by 212 points, or 1.3%, to 16,244, while those for the S&P 500 ESZ5, -1.52% dropped 27.60 points, or 1.4%, to 1,935.50. Nasdaq 100 NQZ5, -1.61% futures shed 66.55 points, or 1.5%, to 4,274.75.
European stocks SXXP, -2.34% also lost ground, with miners and car makers helping to lead the way lower, and crude oil futures CLV5, -2.57% were sliding as well.
Investors remain on alert for signals from the Federal Reserve, which last week was viewed as hurting stocks by citing worries about the global economy in its decision not to raise interest rates.
“The Fed’s decision not to hike last week did not get the positive reaction in the markets that we may ordinarily have expected which suggests that aside from being priced in, there may now be a willingness for the Fed to just get it out of the way,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note Tuesday.
Erlam emphasized it’s a “quieter week” for economic data, but there are a lot of central bankers speaking. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart is due to make remarks at 6 p.m. Eastern Time in Alabama after saying Monday that he’s “confident” there will be rate hike this year. He is a voting member of the Fed’s policy-making group.
On the data front, investors will take in July data for a house price index at 9 a.m. Eastern, followed by a September figure for the Richmond Fed’s manufacturing gauge at 10 a.m.
On Monday, the S&P 500 SPX, +0.46% closed 0.5% higher, and the Dow DJIA, +0.77% gained 125.61 points, or 0.8%.
Stocks to watch: Investors are likely to track biotech IBB, -4.57% and other health-care stocks XLV, -1.33% on Tuesday after Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton appeared to spark a selloff on Monday with her tweet about preventing price gouging by specialty drug makers.
AutoZone Inc. AZO, +0.47% , CarMax Inc. KMX, +3.97% , Darden Restaurants Inc. DRI, +1.17% and General Mills Inc. GIS, +0.39% are among the companies slated to report quarterly earnings before the opening bell.
Other markets: Asian stocks traded mostly higher, while gold GCZ5, -0.04% and the dollar DXY, -0.11% were little changed.
