Tuesday's Market Recap - Investors Worry Dollar Strength Could Hurt Corporate Earnings

What's The Premarket Telling Us?

US index futures, were up earlier, but have since lost its upward momentum. A few minutes, before the bell; Futures are now mixed; Dow futures up 2 points, Nasdaq up 2 points, and the S&P 500 down 0.25 (a fraction).

One positive signal for markets, is WTI crude price is up this morning. However, on the currency front, the Euro is losing ground against the $US dollar, which could pull makets the other way.

What About The Asian And European Markets?

Asian markets closed mixed; Japan was down 0.21%, Shanghai up 0.10%, and Hong Kong down 0.39%.

European markets also closed mixed today; Dax up 0.92%, CAC 40 up 0.67%, but London FTSE 100 down 0.26%.

Market Direction Dynamics

Stocks opened mixed, with the Dow down 14 points, Nasdaq up 1 point, and the S&P 500 down 1 point.

Maket gradually traded up from the open, with the Dow reaching a high of about 38 points, just after 11:00 AM, before slowly losing steam during the rest of the trading session.

The tech heavy Nasdaq traded in and out of positive territory throughout the session.

Social media giants, Facebook and Twitter, both outperformed today; Facebook gained 1.04% and Twitter gained over 3% during the session.

Utilities, Financial, and Consumer staples dragged down the markets today. The selling intensified, late in the trading session, taking the indexes down to the lows of the day.

Factors Influencing Today's Market

• WTI crude prices up, but the $US dollar is strengthened against the Euro.

• New Home Sales increased a better than expected 7.8% in February. A seven year high.

• Consumer price index rose 0.2% in February, after falling 0.7% in January.

• Investor concern that the new earning season, begining next week, will be a disappointing one..

Market Close Volume Traded And Advance Decline Ratio

At the close; Dow was lost 104.90 points, Nasdaq lost 16.25 points, S&P 500 12.92 points.

Volume shares traded, 3.20 billion shares. Decliners narrowly beat Advancers 1.27:1.