US pre-open: Stocks seen touch higher as oil remains in focus

US futures pointed to a marginally firmer open on Wall Street as investors kept a close eye on oil prices ahead of Wednesday’s OPEC meeting in Vienna.

At 1145 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all up 0.2%.

Oil prices retreated as non-OPEC Russia confirmed it will not attend the OPEC meeting in Vienna on Wednesday, although it said a meeting of the group and non-affiliated producers could take place at a later stage. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s energy minister told reporters in Vienna that he’s “not optimistic” the cartel will agree a deal.

West Texas Intermediate was down 1.7% to $46.28 a barrel and Brent crude was down 1.4% to $47.55.

Jamieson Blake, retail sales manager at ADS Securities London, said: “Futures markets are suggesting that Wall Street will open with some modest gains today, although sentiment continues to suggest that the bull-run may be overdone – and there’s no shortage of potential triggers in the short term if we’re looking for a catalyst here.

“The OPEC summit in Vienna remains very much in focus and failure to deliver the mooted production cut here could certainly heap some downside pressure onto stocks. There’s also this weekend’s Italian referendum which could throw the domestic banking industry into turmoil, with the worst case scenario being that the accompanying contagion could spark another financial crisis. The impact would likely be more acute in Europe, but with equities at these levels, it should give cause for US investors to be wary.”

In corporate news, Tiffany & Co. fell in pre-market trade ahead of the release of its quarterly earnings before the open.

Shoe Carnival was weaker in pre-market trade after its quarterly results late on Monday missed expectations and the company cut its annual guidance.

On the data front, the second release of third-quarter US GDP is at 1330 GMT, while consumer confidence is at 1500 GMT.

Spreadex’s Connor Campbell pointed out that the Dow has been “surprisingly resilient” in the face of a now near-guaranteed rate hike from the Federal Reserve in a couple of weeks.

“With that in mind it will be interesting to see if this afternoon’s Q3 GDP revision, likely to creep up to 3% at the annualised rate, will be taken as good news about the economy or whether the index will revert to its usual rate hike-fearing ways,” he said.