WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing
to roughly flat open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction
after moving sharply higher over the past several sessions.

Traders may take a breather on the heels of the advance seen during Monday's
session, which extended the rally seen to close out the previous week.

The surge has lifted the major averages to their best levels in almost a month
amid renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Relatively dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell combined
with weaker-than-expected job growth in April have largely eliminated
short-lived concerns the Fed might actually consider raising rates.

Investors have instead grown increasingly confident about a rate cut in the
coming months, with the chances rates will be lower by September now at 83.5
percent, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Among individual stocks, shares of Disney (DIS) are seeing significant
pre-market weakness even though the entertainment giant reported better than
expected fiscal third quarter earnings.

Stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Monday, extending
the rally seen to close out the previous week. With the continued advance, the
major averages reached their best closing levels in almost a month.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new highs for the session going into the
close of trading, The Nasdaq surged 192.92 points or 1.2 percent to 16,349.25,
the S&P 500 jumped 52.95 points or 1.0 percent to 5,180.74 and the Dow climbed
176.59 points or 0.5 percent to 38,862.27.

Stocks continued to benefit from the upward momentum seen over the two previous
sessions, which partly reflected renewed optimism about the outlook for interest
rates.

However, the upward move may have been exaggerated by light volume, as a lack of
major U.S. economic data kepts some traders on the sidelines.

The economic calendar remains relatively quiet throughout the week, although a
preliminary reading on consumer sentiment in May might attract some attention
along with remarks by several Fed officials.

Among individual stocks, shares of Bausch + Lomb (BLCO) moved sharply higher on
the day after Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on the eye care company's stock
to Overweight from Equal Weight.

Media and entertainment giant Paramount Global (PARA) also surged after a report
from the New York Times said the company decided to formally open negotiations
with a bidding group led by Sony Pictures Entertainment and the private equity
giant Apollo.

Meanwhile, shares of Spirit Airlines (SAVE) plummeted after the discount carrier
reported a slightly wider than expected first quarter loss and provided
disappointing second quarter revenue guidance.

Semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move to the upside over the course of
the session, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 2.2 percent to
its best closing level in almost a month.

Considerable strength was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the
2.2 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The rally by gold stocks
came amid an increase by the price of the precious metal.

Computer hardware stocks also saw significant strength on the day, resulting in
a 2.2 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Software, brokerage and housing stocks also showed notable moves to the upside,
moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are slipping $0.30 to $78.18 a barrel after rising $0.37 to
$78.48 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after jumping $22.60 to $2,331.20 an ounce
in the previous session, gold futures are edging down $7.80 to $2,323.40 an
ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 154.43 yen compared to the
153.92 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the
euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0775 compared to yesterday's $1.0769.

Asia

Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday amid expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve
will start cutting interest rates later this year.

The yen was under pressure, helping lift Japanese markets to a three-week high.
The Aussie dollar slipped and bonds rallied as the Reserve Bank of Australia
held interest rates steady as widely expected and sounded less hawkish on the
policy outlook than many had feared.

In China, data showed the country recorded high tourism figures during the
Labour Day holiday, beating pre-pandemic levels.

Shenzhen and Wuhan have further eased home purchase restrictions to boost sales
as the property market slump continued over the May Day public holiday.

Gold slipped in Asian trading following hawkish comments from a couple of Fed
officials. Oil prices held steady as Israel rejected a statement from Hamas that
it had accepted a cease-fire proposal to end the fighting in Gaza.

China's Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.2 percent at 3,147.74, reversing an
early slide. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.5 percent to 18,479.37 after
a 10-day winning streak.

Japanese markets rallied as trading resumed after a holiday. The Nikkei 225
Index jumped 1.6 percent to 38,835.10, marking a three-week closing high as the
yen continued to weaken despite warnings from authorities that they would act in
the event of volatility. The broader Topix Index settled 0.7 percent higher at
2,746.22.

Tech stocks topped the gainers list after Apple posted stronger-than-expected
sales last quarter. Advantest rose 2.3 percent, SoftBank Group rallied 3.7
percent, Tokyo Electron jumped 5.2 percent and Disco Corp. soared 8.9 percent.
Nikkei heavyweight Fast Retailing gained 3.2 percent.

A private survey showed earlier in the day that Japanese service sector activity
grew at the fastest pace in eight months in April as a result of rising business
and consumer spending.

Seoul stocks climbed, with the Kospi rallying 2.2 percent to 2,734.36 in
catch-up trade as trading resumed after a long holiday weekend. Tech stocks
surged, with Samsung Electronics gaining 4.8 percent and SK Hynix adding 3.7
percent.

Australian markets saw their biggest gain in three months after the RBA rate
decision. The benchmark S&P ASX 200 Index surged 1.4 percent to 7,793.30 while
the broader All Ordinaries Index closed up 1.4 percent at 8,065.50.

Gains were seen across the board. Power producer AGL Energy soared 7.4 percent
after hiking its profit guidance for FY2024. Lender ANZ finished marginally
higher despite first-half earnings coming in below estimates.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P NZX-50 Index slipped 0.2 percent
to 11,800.78.

Europe

European stocks have moved mostly higher on Tuesday as investors react to mostly
positive regional economic data and encouraging bank earnings.

German factory orders decreased 0.4 percent on a monthly basis in March,
confounding expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent - according to data from
Destatis. Nonetheless, the pace of decrease slowed from the revised 0.8 percent
drop logged in February.

A separate set of data showed that German exports gained 0.9 percent on a
monthly basis in March, reversing a 1.6 percent decrease in February.

Elsewhere, data from the customs office showed France's trade deficit dropped to
5.47 billion euros in March from 5.61 billion euros in February as exports rose
faster than imports.

In the U.K., data from the mortgage lender Halifax showed that house prices in
the U.K. were steady in April after falling in March.

While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has shot up by 1.1 percent, the German DAX Index
is up by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent.

In corporate news, Swiss banking giant UBS Group AG has moved sharply higher as
it returned to profit after two loss-making quarters.

UniCredit SpA has also rallied after Italy's second biggest lender posted a much
higher first quarter net income than expected and upgraded its net profit
guidance for the year.

German semiconductor-maker Infineon Technologies AG has also surged despite
cutting its revenue forecast in the current fiscal year.

Zalando has also soared. The online fashion retailer backed its full-year
guidance after returning to growth in the first quarter.

Ferrexpo has also jumped. The Swiss iron ore company with assets in Ukraine
issued an update on proceedings against its Ukrainian subsidiary Ferrexpo
Poltava Mining.

The company said it has decided to make a partial payment of the bail approved
by the Kyiv Court of Appeal on April 29 for Viktor Lotous, the General Director
and Chair of the FPM Management Board, in connection with royalty related
investigation.

Meanwhile, software developer TeamViewer has slumped after reporting first
quarter revenue and earnings below estimates.

Health technology company Siemens Healthineers has also tumbled almost after its
fiscal second quarter revenue missed expectations.

Valneva shares have also dropped in Paris. The biotech company recorded a
turnaround to net income for the first quarter, supported by a net gain of 90.8
million euros from the sale of the priority review voucher.

U.S. Economic Reports

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari is due to participate in a
moderated conversation on the economic overview before the Milken Institute 2024
Global Conference at 11:30 am ET.

At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this
month's auction of $58 billion worth of three-year notes.

The Federal Reserve is due to release its report on consumer credit in the month
of March at 3 pm ET. Consumer credit is expected to increase by $15.0 billion in
March after climbing by $14.1 billion in February.

Stocks In Focus

Shares of Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) are moving sharply higher in pre-market
trading after the telehealth company reported better than expected first quarter
results and provided upbeat second quarter revenue guidance.

Apparel retailer Gap (GPS) is also likely to see initial strength after Citi
upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Buy from Neutral.

On the other hand, shares of Palantir Technologies (PLTR) may come under
pressure after the data analytics company provided disappointing full-year
revenue guidance.

Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group (LCID) is also seeing significant pre-market
weakness after reporting a first quarter loss and reaffirming its disappointing
2024 production forecast.



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