Here are 4 tips for today's trading. This will help you decide where you should invest and what to look for:
1. Stocks break more records
1. Stocks break more records
The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 hit new closing highs on Monday but it looks like they may struggle to continue the ascent on Tuesday.
U.S. stock futures are slipping a tad. Most European markets are in negative territory in early trading, and Asian markets ended the day with mixed results.
2. Japanese market movers
2. Japanese market movers
Softbank (SFTBF) shares tumbled Tuesday as investors reacted badly to the company's $32 billion purchase of ARM Holdings (ARMH, Tech30), one of the U.K.'s most successful tech companies.
The deal is the largest investment ever from Asia into the U.K., but skeptical Softbank shareholders sent the stock down by 10% in Tokyo trading. Japanese markets were closed Monday when the deal was announced.
Meanwhile, shares in Nintendo (NTDOY) surged by 14% in Tokyo as the mania over its Pokemon Go game continues.
The stock's performance following the release of the augmented reality game is staggering: Shares have risen by more than 120% since July 6, adding $23 billion to the company's market value.
3. AUD, NZD plunge on rate cut bets
3. AUD, NZD plunge on rate cut bets
The Australian and New Zealand dollars sank on Tuesday, as investors ramped up bets that both central banks could ease monetary policy as early as next month.
The Aussie tumbled to a more than one-week low of 0.7491 against the greenback, before recovering to 0.7502, down 1.2% on the day.
In the minutes of its July 5 board meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia signaled it may be ready to lower the cash rate further since its assessment is that inflation would remain quite low, but any move is dependent on incoming data.
The likelihood of an August rate cut has increased to 56% from 45% over the past week, derivatives indicate.
Meanwhile, the kiwi hit a three-week low of $0.7010 and was last trading at $0.7025, down 1.25%, after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand stepped up efforts to impose fresh curbs on a hot housing market - a move seen as raising the chance of a rate cut.
Swaps traders are pricing in a 77% chance of an RBNZ rate cut on August 11, compared with 39% a week ago.
4. Earnings and Economics
4. Earnings and Economics
There's a full slate of scheduled earnings reports that are coming out Tuesday. Goldman Sachs (GS), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Lockheed Martin (LMT), TD Ameritrade (AMTD) and Philip Morris International (PM) are reporting ahead of the open.
Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) and United Continental (UAL) will report after the close.
On Monday evening, Yahoo (YHOO, Tech30) surprised Wall Street by reporting sales growth rather than a decline. However, it also wrote down the value of its Tumblr acquisition by a further $482 million, citing lower projections for the social network's future performance.
The International Monetary Fund is releasing a new forecast for world growth at 9 a.m. ET. Watch for analysis of how the U.K.'s Brexit vote will impact the outlook for the global economy this year and next.
The U.S. Census Bureau will release June data on housing starts and building permits at 8:30 a.m.
