MARKET SNAPSHOT: Dow Futures Jump More Than 100 Points, Signal All-time High At The Open

Apple earnings are due after the market closes on Tuesday

U.S. stock futures charged higher on Tuesday, with the Dow average set to open in record territory as investors embrace an upbeat earnings season, with prominent companies Apple and Pfizer set to report later.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 111 points, or 0.5%, to 21,953, while those for the S&P 500 index gained 8.50 points, or 0.3%, to 2,476.50. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index climbed 28.25 points, or 0.5%, to 5,910.75.

The positive premarket trade come after a mixed session on Monday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-poised-to-squeeze-in-a-gain-as-strong-july-closes-out-2017-07-31), when the Dow closed at an all-time high after encouraging earnings from oil giant Chevron Corp.(CVX). The S&P 500 index and Nasdaq Composite , however, finished slightly lower.

Read:Dow flirts with a fresh milestone -- 22,000 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-flirts-with-a-fresh-milestone-22000-2017-07-31)

Earnings remained a key focus point on Tuesday, with traders waiting to see if the positive sentiment seen so far in the second-quarter reporting season will continue, said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

"If corporates continue to deliver as they have so far, it's going to be a very good earnings season, which should help fill the void left by Donald Trump's so far nonexistent growth policies," he added.

As of last Friday, 73% of the S&P 500 companies that had reported earnings posted sales numbers above estimates, according to FactSet. That puts the second quarter on track to mark the highest percentage of companies beating sales forecasts since FactSet began tracking data on 2008.

Earnings docket: Among the major companies reporting ahead of Tuesday's opening bell are Pfizer Inc.(PFE) , Archer Daniels Midland Co.(ADM) , Xerox Corp.(XRX) and Steven Madden Ltd.(SHOO) .

Under Armour Inc.(UAA) , Sprint Corp.(S) and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.(RCL) are also on the premarket earnings docket.

And after the market closes, tech giant Apple Inc.(AAPL) , Herbalife Ltd.(HLF) , Allstate Corp.(ALL) and Match Group Inc.(MTCH) are slated to report.

Apple's shares were 0.4% higher ahead of the open.

Read:Apple earnings: How long will iPhone sales be on 'pause'? (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-earnings-how-long-will-iphone-sales-be-on-pause-2017-07-31)

Political reversals: Investors were still assessing the latest drama from the White House, in which Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci on Monday was removed from his post (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/anthony-scaramucci-ousted-as-white-house-communications-director-2017-07-31-151031643) after just 10 days in the job.

"The dismissal of the U.S. White House communications director could be interpreted as the reasserting of authority over the executive branch, or a signal of the worst chaos the White House has known since President Jackson's inauguration," said Paul Donovan, global chief economist at UBS, in a note.

Check out:Ex-Marine Kelly in, ex-Wall Streeter Scaramucci out: Why Trump made the switch (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ex-marine-kelly-in-ex-wall-streeter-scaramucci-out-why-trump-made-switch-2017-07-31)

Economic news: In a busy day on the data calendar, the closely watched PCE deflator reading for June is out at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The Federal Reserve uses this data set as its primary inflation gauge, so the reading could help determine the next policy move for the central bank.

Updates on personal income and consumer spending for June are due at the same time. Those reports will be followed by the Markit manufacturing PMI for July at 9:45 a.m.Eastern and the ISM manufacturing report for the same month at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Construction spending data for June come out at 10 a.m. Eastern as well, while monthly auto sales updates should trickle out through the day.

Other markets: The dollar rebounded slightly from a recent selloff, with the ICE Dollar Index rising 0.1% to 92.902.

Read:July's best-performing assets--in charts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/julys-best-performing-assetsin-charts-2017-07-31)

European stocks traded higher (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-rise-on-wave-of-earnings-with-gdp-in-focus-2017-08-01), while Asian markets closed mainly with gains (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-start-august-with-gains-2017-07-31).

Oil prices climbed and remained above $50 a barrel, as traders assessed U.S. sanctions imposed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-freezes-assets-of-venezuelan-president-maduro-but-holds-off-on-oil-sanctions-2017-08-01) on Venezuela -- a member of OPEC and a major exporter of oil to the U.S. -- which did not include threatened measures against the country's petroleum industry.

Gold and most other metals posted small gains.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 01, 2017 05:28 ET (09:28 GMT)