Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Point to Higher Open as Investors Eye Presidential Election

Stock futures are slightly higher Tuesday morning as investors brace for the results of the U.S. presidential election.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were up 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively, about two hours before the opening bell, while those linked to the Nasdaq rose 0.4%. The major indexes, which were coming off weekly losses, fell on Monday as investors positioned ahead of the election and the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates later this week,

Among noteworthy movers before the bell, Boeing (BA) shares were up nearly 2% after the plane maker’s machinists voted to approve a new labor contract, putting an end to a crippling seven-week strike.

Palantir (PLTR) shares were up 15% after the analytics software provider released better-than-expected quarterly results and a rosy outlook, boosted by demand for its AI offerings.

Large-cap technology stocks were higher across the board. Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA) were all gaining ground. On Monday, Nvidia briefly overtook Apple at the top of the list of the world’s most valuable companies, and the chipmaker is poised to rise to the top spot again today.

The yield on 10-year Treasurys, which is sensitive to expectations about where interest rates are headed, was little changed at 4.31%. The yield has been rising in recent weeks as investors have recalibrated their thinking about how aggressive the Fed will be in cutting interest rates. The central bank is widely expected to trim its benchmark lending rate by a quarter percentage point at its policy meeting on Thursday.

Crude oil futures were up slightly after surging yesterday following news that the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations had agreed to extend output cuts. Gold futures were up slightly at around $2,750 an ounce, while bitcoin was trading around $69,000, not far from where it was on Monday afternoon.