Modest Open Likely For US Markets; Oil Down, Gold Up

Modest open likely for the U.S. markets Tuesday after main stock index futures were looking downcast on Tuesday morning.

The uncertainties over a trade deal with China despite the truce overwhelmed market sentiments.

At around 4:30 a.m. ET, Dow Jones futures slipped 48 points, showing a negative open of more than 60 points. Futures on the S&P and Nasdaq were also down.

Market focus on the trade talks between the U.S. and China continued after both sides agreed to end tariff imposition and concentrate on trade talks.

At the U.S.-China trade front, after the tariff truce in Osaka, President Donald Trump said on Monday that the bilateral trade talks have “already begun.”

The market participants are also awaiting the upcoming U.S. non-farm payrolls data on Friday. This would give investors a better idea on the economy's trend and the signals will be factored in by the Federal Reserve to go for a rate cut by July end.

Meanwhile, the U.S. on Monday warned the European Union that it would impose tariffs on $4 billion of additional EU imports over the contentious issue of aircraft subsidies.

At the data front, Tuesday will see the latest light vehicle sales figures for June. The latest quarterly results from Acuity Brands, Simply Good Foods and Greenbrier Companies will be out before the bell.

Asian stocks up

Asian stock markets moved up Tuesday with the news of Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) slashing its cash rate to a new low becoming a catalyst.

Mainland Chinese stocks jumped. But Shanghai Composite traded just below the flat line.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.26 percent while Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.11 percent. The Topix jumped 0.31 percent. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.36 percent while Australia’s ASX 200 moved up fractionally.

The European Stoxx 600 rose 0.1 percent midway in the morning session. The gains were led by food and beverage stocks while autos led the losses.

Oil falls

Oil prices fell on Tuesday as concerns about future demand took an upper hand. The weak global PMI data revived fears of a demand slowdown for oil despite the boost from OPEC to extend supply cuts until March 2020.

Brent crude futures for September delivery fell 15 cents, at $64.91 a barrel by 0311 GMT.

The U.S. crude futures for August dipped 25 cents, at $58.84 a barrel after hitting highest in over five weeks on Monday.

“After 2-1/2 years of production cuts, the effects of rolling over production cuts is losing steam,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda in New York, adding that markets are nervous about the demand outlook.

Gold rises

Meanwhile, gold prices jumped on Tuesday despite the slide on Monday as investors were concerned about the weak global manufacturing data and U.S.-European trade tensions.

Spot gold jumped 0.4 percent at $1,389.73 per ounce at 0414 GMT. The U.S. gold futures moved up 0.2 percent to $1,391.70 an ounce.

“The trade conflict is back to the center stage today and the participants are the U.S and the European Union, ” said Margaret Yang Yan, a market analyst at CMC Markets.

The PMI data showed factory activity slumped across Europe and Asia, in June, and manufacturing rate cooled in the United States. But the surge of gold has been capped by a strong dollar.