Wall Street headed higher in early trading Tuesday as markets' anxiety over last week's poor jobs data appears to have dissipated as investors turn their attention to another batch of corporate earnings.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.3% before the bell, while Nasdaq futures climbed 0.4%. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were effectively unchanged.
Palantir Technologies is heading toward another record high after booking its first $1 billion in quarterly sales and raising its outlook for the year. Shares surged more than 6% to $170 before markets opened, which would be tops for the company that has already notched record highs four times this year. One year ago, Palantir shares were going for about $24 each.
Shares of Caterpillar fell 3.5% in premarket after the farming and industrial equipment maker's second-quarter profit fell short of Wall Street targets. The Texas company's operating profit in the period fell 18% from last year, which company executives blamed on “unfavorable manufacturing costs” related to higher tariffs.
Coming later this week are earnings reports from The Walt Disney Co., McDonald’s and DoorDash, along with updates on U.S. business activity.
Investors appeared to have recovered some confidence after worries over how President Donald Trump’s tariffs may be punishing the economy sent a shudder through Wall Street last week.
Reports from big U.S. companies have largely come in better than expected and could help steady a U.S. stock market that may have been due for some turbulence. A jump in stock prices from a low point in April had raised criticism that the broad market had become too expensive.
At the same time, signs of weakness in hiring by U.S. businesses have raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its next meeting in September, potentially a plus for markets.
Elsewhere, at midday in Europe, Germany's DAX gained 0.8%, while the CAC 40 in Paris edged 0.2% higher. Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.5%.
In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.6% to 40,549.54 while the Kospi in South Korea jumped 1.6% to 3,198.00.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rose 0.7% to 24,902.53. The Shanghai Composite index surged 1% to 3,617.60.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.2% to 8,770.40, while the SET in Thailand climbed 1.3%.
India's Sensex was the sole outlier, losing 0.5% on concerns over trade tensions with the United States as the Trump administration pushes for cutbacks in oil purchases from Russia.
India has indicated that it will continue buying oil from Russia, saying its stance on securing its energy needs is guided by the availability of oil in the markets and prevailing global circumstances.
