US pre-open: Stocks to nudge up amid tax reform optimism
US futures pointed to a mostly positive session on Wall Street on Tuesday as investors grew increasingly hopeful that the US tax reform bill will be passed in the coming days.
At 1210 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures were up 0.1%, while Nasdaq futures were flat.
On Monday, the Nasdaq, Dow Jones and S&P 500 all notched record highs again, with the Nasdaq crossing the 7,000 level for the first time in intraday trading as investors bet that the US tax reform bill will be passed this week after critics of the reforms, Marco Rubio and Bob Corker, said they would back the plans.
Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said: "Tax reform was one of the key initiatives that contributed to Donald Trump’s election victory last year as he vowed to revitalise a sluggish US economy. While it may have taken longer to deliver than he expected, it would appear that Republicans determination to give Americans an early Christmas present has paid off, although there has been numerous debates about who actually stands to benefit most from the bill.
"Markets have clearly benefited from the prospect of tax reform over the last 13 months and the Santa rally that we’ve seen in the run up to Christmas is another reflection of that. It will be interesting to see if this will be maintained for the rest of the week or whether it becomes a 'buy the rumour, sell the fact' scenario."
In corporate news, Navistar surged in pre-market trade after the release of its fourth-quarter earnings.
Elsewhere, LongFin Corp tumbled in pre-market trade after rallying sharply in the previous session on news it is buying blockchain technology provider Ziddu.com.
Cars.com could be in focus after activist investor Starboard Value LP said late on Monday that it bought a 9.9% stake in the group.
On the data front, housing starts, building permits and current account data are at 1330 GMT.