US pre-open: Stocks set to rise after strong print for July retail sales

Stock futures are pointing to a solid start on the back what many are interpreting as less aggressive rhetoric overnight from Pyongyang and several better-than-expected reports on the current state of the American economy.

On Thursday evening, North Korean state media said their country's leader had been briefed on plans to launch missiles into the waters off the US Pacific territory of Guam, but that he would watch the actions of the Americans before taking a decision to carry out his threat.

Against that backdrop, Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda told clients before the opening bell: "We still have more data to come today from the US, with the most notable being retail sales for July.

"Consumer spending is a critical component of the US economy and something that has remained adequate yet unremarkable for some time. We've actually seen a gradual slump in spending over the course of the year, something I'm sure the Fed would like to see a reversal of in the second half."

As of 1343 BST, futures were pointing to opening gains of 48 points to 22,000.00 for the Dow Jones Industrials, alongside an advance of 5.25 points to 2,468.75 for the S&P 500 and a 17.50 point rise in the Nasdaq-100 to 5,927.50.

Acting as a backdrop, for a second month running the fund managers canvassed each month by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch considered the two biggest 'tail risks' facing the market were a policy mistake by the Federal Reserve or the European Central Bank (22%) or a crash in global bond markets (19%).

Precisely because of that perhaps, at 4.9% globally average cash levels remained above their 10-year average of 4.5%, the results of the investment bank's August fund manager revealed.

European investors's cash balances on the other hand increased to 5.3% - their highest level since March 2003.

Bumper readings on the economy

Retail sales volumes sped ahead by 0.6% on the month in July to reach $478.9bn, according to the Department of Commerce (consensus: 0.4%), following an upwardly revised gain of 0.3% in the month before.

In parallel, the Federal Reserve bank of New York's regional manufacturing sector gauge rocketed from a reading of 9.8 in July to 25.2 for August (consensus: 10.0) a three-year high.

Import prices edged higher by 0.1% month-on-month in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as expected.

Still on the economic calendar for Tuesday, the NAHB's housing market index was due to be published at 1500 BST, alongside the latest reading on US business inventories for the month of June and data on long-term capital flows for that same month at 2100 BST.

On the corporate front, Home Depot was in the spotlight after the DIY specialist bumped up its full-year guidance for sales and profits, projecting that they will increase by 5.3% and 13%, respectively.

Shares in Dick's Sporting Goods on the other hand crashed after the retailer posted second quarter earnings per share of 96 cents (consensus: $1.0) alongside a full-year outlook for earnings per share and same-store sales that fell short of analysts' forecasts.