May 14, 2013-Stocks Look for Catalysts for New Momentum

Early indications suggest that Wall Street stocks may open Tuesday's session on a weak note. The markets have resiliently preserved the momentum, as signals suggested that the domestic economy is slowly and steadily getting back on track, so much so that traders have begun speculating about an early withdrawal of the Fed stimulus. Earlier in the global trading day, Asian stocks closed on a mixed note. Meanwhile, European stocks are uniformly lower amid separate reports showing better than expected eurozone industrial output data and a lower than expected German economic sentiment reading. The Dow futures are moving down 30 points, the S&P 500 Index futures are declining 2.80 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures are receding 6.50 points. U.S. stocks resisted a profit taking-induced sell-off on Monday, thanks to surprisingly strong retail sales data, and ended mixed. On the economic front, the Labor Department is set to release its report on import and export prices for April at 8:30 am ET. Economists estimate a 0.1 percent drop in exports compared to the previous month, while import prices may have fallen a steeper 0.5 percent.