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U.S. equity futures were down Tuesday morning as investors digested profits from large retailers and awaited a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 195 points, or 0.54%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.44% and 0.34% respectively. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 closed Monday at record highs for a fifth consecutive session.
Powell is scheduled to speak at a city hall at 1:30 p.m. ET. Market watchers will be keenly aware of any hints the Fed chairman may give as to when the central bank will start cutting asset purchases and raising interest rates.
Before that, investors will get a glimpse of consumer health with the 8:30 a.m. ET release of July retail sales, which are expected to have fallen 0.3%.
In equities, the Dow component Walmart reported earnings and revenue that exceeded Wall Street estimates as back-to-school shopping gave a boost. The big box retailer was forecasting profit for the current year and quarter ahead of what analysts expected.
Another Dow member, Home Depot Inc., beat both bottom line and bottom line, but same-store sales increased by the smallest amount in two years as the DIY trend waned as part of a reopening of the economy.
Target Corp. and Lowe’s Companies Inc. are among the companies expected to release their quarterly results on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, financial firms, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc., fell as purchases in the Treasury complex lowered the 10-year yield by four basis points to 1.23% while flattening the yield curve.
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil slipped 55 cents to $ 66.74 per barrel and gold climbed $ 6.90 to $ 1,796.70 per ounce.
Overseas markets were mostly down.
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European stock markets were mixed with the German DAX 30 and the French CAC 40 losing 0.21% and 0.52% respectively, while the UK FTSE 100 rose 0.11%.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.36%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.66% and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 2%.
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