© Reuters
By Peter Nurse
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are seen opening marginally lower Tuesday, with confidence still fragile even as tensions surrounding the banking sector ease.
At 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT), the Dow futures contract was down 35 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 futures traded 7 points, or 0.2% lower, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 33 points, or 0.3%.
The main equity indices closed in a mixed fashion Monday, with buoyant bank stock boosting the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500, while rising bond yields weighed on tech stocks.
First Citizens Bank's (NASDAQ:FCNCA) decision to buy the assets of failed Silicon Valley Bank coupled with reports that U.S. regulators are committed to ensuring all of the country’s bank deposits are safe have largely allayed fears of deeper systemic stress.
However, if the turbulence in the banking sector is largely a thing of the past, the future could involve more hikes by the Federal Reserve as inflation rather than financial stability returns as the dominant influence.
“The current inflation rate is too high. It is the goal of the Federal Open Market Committee to get it back down to 2%, in a way that is sooner as opposed to later,” Federal Reserve Governor Philip Jefferson said Monday. “It is going to take some time because there are components of inflation that have turned out to be quite persistent — for example, services excluding housing.”
The highlight of the week’s economic calendar will be Friday’s core PCE price index for February - the Fed's favored measure of inflation. It accelerated in January, adding to concerns over the prospect of a more hawkish Fed.
The CB consumer confidence index for March will be Tuesday’s main release, and is expected to show a small reduction from the prior month, although the equivalent figures in Europe have been more buoyant than expected.
In corporate news, earnings are due from the likes of chipmaker Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), athletic clothes retailer Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU), and drug store chain Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA).
Additionally, Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) has closed down a small metaverse unit as part of a broader restructuring, while ride-sharing company Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) has appointed a new chief executive officer.
PVH (NYSE:PVH) beat fourth-quarter expectations as its plan to accelerate the growth of its two core brands Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger spurred growth despite a challenging macro backdrop.
Oil edged higher Tuesday, continuing its recent rally ahead of the release of the latest U.S. crude stockpiles data, which could provide information about the supply-demand outlook in the world’s largest consumer.
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, will publish its inventory data later in the session, and is expected to show another build after expanding last week by just over 3 million barrels.
By 07:00 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.2% higher at $72.97 a barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 0.1% to $77.83.
The crude market has bounced from the 15-month lows seen earlier this month as markets feared that slowing economic growth will dent crude demand this year.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,974.50/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.2% higher at 1.0819.
