Dow futures fall 35 pts; confidence fragile even as banking tensions ease By

By Peter Nurse

-- U.S. stocks are fxtm official website customer serviceseen opening marginally lower Tuesday, with confidence still fragile even as tensions surrounding the banking sector ease.

At 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT), the contract was down 35 points, or 0.1%, traded 7 points, or 0.2% lower, and dropped 33 points, or 0.3%.

The main equity indices closed in a mixed fashion Monday, with buoyant bank stock boosting the and , while rising bond yields weighed on tech stocks.

First Citizens Bank's (NASDAQ:) decision to buy the assets of failed Silicon Valley Bank coupled with reports that U.S. regulators are committed to ensuring all of the country’s bank deposits are safe have largely allayed fears of deeper systemic stress.

However, if the turbulence in the banking sector is largely a thing of the past, the future could involve more hikes by the as inflation rather than financial stability returns as the dominant influence.

“The current inflation rate is too high. It is the goal of the Federal Open Market Committee to get it back down to 2%, in a way that is sooner as opposed to later,” Federal Reserve Governor Philip Jefferson said Monday. “It is going to take some time because there are components of inflation that have turned out to be quite persistent — for example, services excluding housing.”

The highlight of the week’s economic calendar will be Friday’s for February - the Fed's favored measure of inflation. It accelerated in January, adding to concerns over the prospect of a more hawkish Fed.

The for March will be Tuesday’s main release, and is expected to show a small reduction from the prior month, although the equivalent figures in Europe have been more buoyant than expected.

In corporate news, earnings are due from the likes of chipmaker Micron Technology (NASDAQ:), athletic clothes retailer (NASDAQ:), and drug store chain Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:).

Additionally, Walt (NYSE:) has closed down a small metaverse unit as part of a broader restructuring, while ride-sharing company (NASDAQ:) has appointed a new chief executive officer.

PVH (NYSE:) beat expectations as its plan to accelerate the growth of its two core brands Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger spurred growth despite a challenging macro backdrop.

Oil edged higher Tuesday, continuing its recent rally ahead of the release of the latest U.S. crude stockpiles data, which could provide information about the supply-demand outlook in the world’s largest consumer.

The , an industry group, will publish its inventory data later in the session, and is expected to show another build after expanding last week by just over 3 million barrels.

By 07:00 ET, futures traded 0.2% higher at $72.97 a barrel, while the contract climbed 0.1% to $77.83.

The crude market has bounced from the 15-month lows seen earlier this month as markets feared that slowing economic growth will dent crude demand this year.

Additionally, rose 0.2% to $1,974.50/oz, while traded 0.2% higher at 1.0819.

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