Stocks May Add To Yesterday's Modest Gains In Early Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session modestly higher, stocks may see some further upside in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 36 points.

Stocks may continue to benefit from the upward momentum seen on Wall Street since President-elect Donald Trump's surprise victory last month.

Some traders may also look to pick up stocks to do some "window dressing" as the final days of 2016 tick off the calendar.

Trading activity is likely to remain subdued, however, with some traders still away from their desks following Christmas and ahead of another three-day weekend for New Year's Day.

Shortly after the start of trading, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its report on pending home sales in the month of November.

Economists expect pending home sales to climb by 0.5 percent in November after inching up by 0.1 percent in October.

A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

With the markets reopening following the long holiday weekend, stocks saw modest strength during trading on Tuesday. The gains on the day lifted the tech-heavy Nasdaq to a new record closing high.

The major averages ended the day in positive territory but well off their highs of the session. The Dow inched up 11.23 points or 0.1 percent to 19,945.04, the Nasdaq climbed 24.75 points or 0.5 percent to 5,487.44 and the S&P 500 rose 5.09 points or 0.2 percent to 2,268.88.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index closed just below the unchanged line and China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced by 0.8 percent.

The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has climbed by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both just below the unchanged line.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slipping $0.14 to $53.76 a barrel after climbing $0.88 to $53.90 a barrel on Tuesday. Gold futures, which rose $5.20 to $1,138.80 an ounce in the previous session, are edging up $1.40 to $1,140.20 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 117.72 yen compared to the 117.43 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0390 compared to yesterday's $1.0457.