US pre-open: Stocks mixed ahead of August's last trading day

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures had stocks opening higher ahead of the bell on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 on track to turn in its seventh consecutive winning month.
As of 1200 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.05%, while S&P 500 were up 0.01% and Nasdaq-100 futures traded 0.03% weaker.

The Dow Jones closed 55.96 points lower on Monday, while the S&P 500 saw out the session at a fresh record high.

AJ Bell's Russ Mould said: "After US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell eased the market's concern about a tapering of support for the economy at Jackson Hole on Friday, investors have now gone back to fretting about the Covid recovery.

"This time round it seems to be a combination of the Delta variant hitting China but also potentially the government's crackdown on companies in the education and technology sectors. While the negative data will be kept in perspective for now, signs this is becoming a trend could spook investors and put further pressure on China-related assets and the commodities space."

Also in focus, word from the Pentagon that it had finished its evacuation efforts from Kabul's airport, and Hurricane Ida's ravaging of New Orleans.

On the macro front, June's house price index will be released at 1400 BST, while August's Chicago PMI will follow at 1445 BST and the Conference Board's August consumer confidence report was slated for release at 1500 BST.

In the corporate space, Zoom shares were down roughly 10% in pre-market trading after revealing that second-quarter revenues had slowed despite raising guidance and beating on earnings as a result of the worsening Covid-19 pandemic.

No major earnings were slated for release.