European Futures

 As for European markets, we expect a somewhat milder start, with the primary emphasis being the UK Autumn Budget, which is scheduled to begin following PMQs at 12:30BST.

Most of the messages from the Chancellor’s speech have already gotten out, and the information has been leaking since last weekend. Therefore, there will be little to no surprises when the Chancellor of the Exchequer speaks later today. The Speaker of the House of Commons is likely to hear most of the familiar messages because the substance appears to have previously been pre-briefed. This could include salary raises for public employees, a large cash influx for the NHS, spending in regional transportation, skills, housing, and education, as well as a cap on fuel duty. However, the sting will be in the details, in respect of what it will all cost.

US Futures

US futures continue to trade near their record high as the optimism among investors and traders is fuelled by better-than-expected earnings results. The fact is that there have been a lot of concerns among investors that an increase in pricing may have dampened the demand among consumers, but the actual results have shown that consumers are in a perfectly healthy condition, and they are able to consume surging costs. As long as consumers can handle the soaring costs, market players are comfortable in taking on riskier bets.

So far, nearly 30% of the S&P 500 has reported earnings. Eighty percent of the companies that have issued quarterly updates have surpassed profits projections, while eighty percent have beaten sales forecasts. Strong performances have been critical in propelling the major indices to new highs.

Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boeing, General Motors, and Harley-Davidson are among the companies reporting profits before the market starts on Wednesday. After the market closes, Ford, eBay, and Yum China will deliver quarterly reports.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.18 percent, marking the index’s ninth positive session in a row, and it also set intraday and closing highs. It was the benchmark index’s 70th intraday high of 2021, as well as its 57th record close of the year.

The Nasdaq Composite increased 0.06 percent, marking its third positive session in four. Snapchat’s shares fell 3.9 percent, weighing on the tech-heavy index.

Economic Docket

As for the economic docket, investors and traders will get to see some more US data for September, such as the durable goods reading for the last month. The fact that the US economy is still facing numerous supply chain issues, which look set to continue,  we might see the durable goods reading dropping by 1.1 percent, following a 1.8 percent growth in August.

Forex

On Tuesday, the US dollar rose across the board as a result of rising consumer confidence and new home sales. Americans are unconcerned about the Delta variant, as they are looking forward to post-lockdown recuperation. Almost half of those polled expect to take a vacation in the next six months, which bodes well for Christmas travel and spending.

Commodities

Gold prices are struggling to stay above the 1,800-price mark, an important price point that boosts the confidence among gold bulls. The fact that we saw the US Consumer Confidence data printing a strong reading for this month has eased concerns about high inflation. The general consensus is that economic growth for the world’s biggest economy is still on the right track, and things have only started to improve after the turbulent third quarter.

Having said that, demand for physical gold continues to increase, and the evidence of this was in China’s net gold import, which soared by 60% during last month. The number was at the highest level in nearly five months, and this means that the second-biggest economy of the world is more interested in buying gold, which should continue to help the prices in the long run.