By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening lower Tuesday, retreating from record levels ahead of the release of key retail sales data and quarterly earrings from Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Home Depot (NYSE:HD).
At 7:05 AM ET (1105 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 195 points, or 0.6%, S&P 500 Futures traded 20 points, or 0.5%, lower, while Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 50 points, or 0.3%.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and broad-based S&P 500 closed at new all-time highs Monday, posting their fifth straight positive session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, however, declined 0.2%.
However, sentiment has turned negative as investors digest the political disorder in Afghanistan, rising global Covid cases and slowing economic growth in China.
Back in the U.S., the release of the July retail sales report is due at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT). This is expected to show a drop in sales of 0.2% on a month-on-month basis after a 0.6% rise in June.
A number of states are setting new records for Covid cases, likely hitting consumer spending, while some have cut off extra federal pandemic unemployment assistance.
Also due are industrial production data for July at 9:15 AM ET.
Elsewhere, attention will be on the quarterly earnings reports from Walmart and Home Depot, with these retail giants having tough comparisons with last year.
Home Depot missed estimates for U.S. quarterly same-store sales, as the pandemic-driven surge in demand for do-it-yourself home-improvement products waned, but Walmart raised its annual U.S. same-store sales forecast after beating estimates, buoyed by customers splurging on back-to-school products.
The U.S.-listed Chinese tech stocks will also be in focus after the country’s regulators issued a new draft of rules designed to stop unfair competition on the Internet. This resulted in the stocks of the likes of Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), Tencent Holdings (OTC:TCEHY) and JD (NASDAQ:JD).com trading sharply lower Tuesday.
Elsewhere, oil prices slipped Tuesday, continuing the previous session’s sharp losses on Covid-related fears for global demand.
The Energy Information Administration also noted Monday, in its monthly report, that U.S. shale oil output is expected to rise to 8.1 million barrels per day in September, the highest since May 2020. This puts the weekly crude inventory data by the American Petroleum Institute, due later Tuesday, firmly into focus.
By 7:05 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.8% lower at $66.52 a barrel, after dropping 1.7% Monday, while the Brent contract fell 0.6% to $69.09, after falling 1.5% during the previous session.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,796/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.1764.