US Stock Futures Signal Flat Open As Presidential Election Looms

The U.S. stock index futures point to a flat open Tuesday as investors maintain a cautious mode ahead of the Presidential election.

The futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.03 percent, the futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were up 0.08 percent and those on the Nasdaq 100 Index were up 0.06 percent.

This week there will be plenty of attention on the U.S. Presidential elections and various permutations of the outcome and its impact on markets. “As the U.S. elections approach, political commentators still suggest a rather close set of contests for the presidency and control of Congress. It is generally agreed that the equity market will be more obviously influenced by any ‘skewed’ result (ie, either party winning the presidential race as well as a dominant position in Congress), but then again most specialists predict something of a split result, which judging by the 1990s precedent is not necessarily inimical to good economic performance,” Credit Agricole said in a note.

On Monday, the U.S. stocks rose with the market players waiting for the result of the Presidential election. According to the data reported Monday by the Institute for Supply Management, non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, which rates the relative level of business conditions, including employment, production, new orders, prices, supplier deliveries and inventories, rose to 54.2 in October, down from 55.1 in September.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.15 percent, the S&P 500 Index was up 0.22 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.59 percent.

European markets rose Tuesday as investors hoped that the euro zone leaders will soon enter into an agreement to make sure steps are taken to tackle the debt burden faced by Greece. London's FTSE 100 was up 10.94 points, Germany's DAX 30 index rose 8.40 points and France's CAC 40 gained 5.93 points.

Asian stocks fell Tuesday following the global cues. According to the HSBC China Services Purchasing Managers Index released Thursday, the reading of the PMI, a measure of the service sector activity, fell to 53.50 in October down from 54.3 in September. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 115.73 points, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 33.31 points and India’s BSE Sensex declined 20.96 points.