Opening Comment — Tuesday, May 19, 2026
DJIA: 49,686.12, up 159.95
S&P 500: 7,403.05, down 5.45
NASDAQ: 26,090.73, down 134.41
Stocks lower before pending home sales data
Stock futures are lower Tuesday morning as investors remained concerned about inflation stemming from the continuing Iran war despite President Donald Trump announcing that planned military action has been put on hold. Investors are also looking forward to April’s pending home sales report. As of 7:16 AM ET, the Dow is decreasing 0.2%, while the S&P 500 is down 0.4%. The Nasdaq 100 is falling 0.7% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mixed on Monday as May homebuilder sentiment unexpectedly rose and the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) of New York's Business Leaders Survey for May rose but still showed weakness in the region's service sector. The Dow was up 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.1% with four of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Energy sector was the top performer, rising 1.8%, while the Information Technology sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.0%.
On the data front, pending home sales for April are expected to have increased 1.0% month-over-month (MOM) and 2.1% year-over-year (YOY), versus the prior month’s increases of 1.5% and 1.8%, respectively.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading as the U.K.’s three-month average unemployment rate and average weekly earnings growth rose to 5.0% and 4.1% YOY, respectively, through March. Meanwhile, the country’s jobless claims rose after a significant downward revision to the previous month’s figure, while the claimant count rate remained steady in April. The eurozone’s trade surplus narrowed in March.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as Japan’s preliminary reading of first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) showed a stronger-than-expected increase, growing at an annualized pace of 2.1% versus the prior quarter’s 0.8%, while the GDP deflator increased by 3.4% YOY, similar to the prior quarter’s reading. The country’s capacity utilization declined by 1.2% MOM in March and its Tertiary (service) Industry Index showed a smaller-than-expected decline of 0.2% MOM in March. Westpac’s Consumer Confidence Index for Australia increased by 3.5% MOM in May.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly higher ahead of tomorrow’s release of the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting minutes.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.4% lower at $108.21/barrel partially reversing recent gains as markets evaluate the latest geopolitical developments.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.6% lower at $4,537.83/ounce following a strengthening U.S. dollar.