Stock Futures Lower as Traders Return From Long Holiday Weekend

New York (May 30)  Stock futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday as traders returned to Wall Street after the long Memorial Day weekend.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.18%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.15%, and Nasdaq futures dropped 0.11%.

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 just barely clinched new records on Friday in a quiet end to the week. The two indexes had also closed out Thursday's session with records on strength in retail earnings. Costco (COST) , Best Buy (BBY) , Guess? (GES)  and Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF)  each posted positive quarters over the tail-end of last week.

Crude oil prices continued their decline on Tuesday as worries over global supply levels carried over into the new week. Crude had slumped on Thursday after an extension to a global output pact disappointed investors looking for more. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed in Vienna on a nine-month extension to a production-cut deal set to expire at the end of June. Goldman Sachs sees little growth in oil prices this year, projecting a level of $52.39 a barrel for 2017.

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.4% to $49.58 a barrel on Tuesday morning.

The Federal Reserve can continue to raise interest rates while also reducing its balance sheet this year, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said on Tuesday. Kaplan, a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, anticipates two more interest rate hikes this year.

The U.S. jobs report on Friday could go some way in cementing the chances of a rate hike later this month. The nonfarm payrolls report for May is expected to demonstrate continued strength in the labor market. The U.S. economy is expected to have added 175,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate is forecast to hold at 4.4%, according to FactSet estimates. Hourly earnings are anticipated to have risen 0.2% in May.

Source: TehStreet