US pre-open: Wall Street set for slightly higher start ahead of presidential debate
Wall Street is being called to start the Tuesday session slightly higher as investors bide their time ahead of the much anticipated televised debate between US President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden.
"It’s all going to kick off later tonight, as the first US presidential debate takes place in Cleveland. The fun starts at 9pm US eastern time and will last one and a half hours.
"Trump won in Ohio, a typical battleground rust belt state, by eight points last time around but it is leaning towards Biden in 2020, according to the polls. But we know polls only tell a portion of the story – it’s in the battlegrounds where it counts."
Ahead of the opening bell, futures on the Dow Jones Industrials were up by 15 points at 27,497.09, alongside a 1.5 point rise for the S&P 500 to 3,347.5, although the Nasdaq Composite was down by 11.25 points to 11m383.5.
The debate was scheduled to kick-off at 0200 BST on Wednesday morning.
Against that backdrop, market participants were also waiting on a slew of Fed speakers, including central bank Vice President, Richard Clarida, governor Randal Quarles, Philly Fed President Patrick Harker, and NY Fed chief John Williams.
A barrage of second-tier economic data was also set for release, including a preliminary reading for foreign trade in goods at 1330 BST, followed by the S&P Case Shiller house price index for July at 1400 BST and the Conference Board's monthly consumer confidence gauge at 1500 BST.