Wall Street extends recovery as Trump trip moves forward; fresh data in focus

US equities were set for a higher open on Tuesday, as market participants looked ahead of fresh economic data and speeches from FOMC officials later in the day.
Markets ended in green territory on Monday, recovering from last week’s unexpected plunge over concerns that Trump won’t be able to deliver his top economic promises in the near term.
The Dow Jones industrial average added nearly 90 points by the end of the session, with Boeing and 3M moving ahead of others. Information technology supported the S&P 500 index, keeping its place as the best-performing sector this year. The Nasdaq composite rose by 0.82 percent.

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: +89.99 / +0.43% / 20894.83
• Standard & Poor’s 500: +12.29 / +0.52% / 2394.02
• Nasdaq Composite: +49.92 / +0.82% / 6133.62

Investors kept an eye on Donald Trump, who continued his first international trip as President of the United States. The Republican leader was in Tel Aviv on Monday, visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Both leaders agreed for a closer cooperation to fight terrorism and promote peace, security and stability for the region. In this regard, Trump’s next stop will be with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to articulate peace and solve a historic conflict between countries.
Trump arrived to Israel after visiting Saudi Arabia, where he closed a multi-billion-dollar weapon deal that skyrocketed defense and military related stocks.
This trip served well the Trump administration to cool down a political scandal involving former FBI Director James Comey and his then-National Security advisor Michael Flynn. Reports saying Trump asked Comey to halt an investigation into Flynn over Russian influence on the presidential elections sent stocks to the ground, marking the worst session of this year so far.
Geopolitical tension in the Korean peninsula was also eyed by market players as Pyongyang successfully launched a middle-range ballistic missile. Kim Jong-un’s government announced that mass production of this precise missile is being analysed.
No major news were scheduled on Monday and Wall Street focused on several speeches from Federal Reserve policymakers ahead of Wednesday’s minutes release.