Opening Comment — Tuesday, August 11, 2026
DJIA: 53,975.98, down 60.95
S&P 500: 7,753.11, down 4.53
NASDAQ: 26,605.36, down 85.26
Stocks up ahead of existing home sales
Stock futures are higher Tuesday morning ahead of today’s July existing home sales data. Meanwhile, a reading of small business optimism increased more than expected in July. Investors are also looking forward to tomorrow’s July Consumer Price Index (CPI) data. As of 7:12 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.1%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.5% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Monday following hardened stances from both U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran regarding negotiations to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The Dow was down 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.1% with five of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Energy sector was the top performer, rising 4.6%, while the Real Estate sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.2%.
On the data front, the National Federation of Independent Business’s gauge of small business optimism increased to 99.8 in July from the prior month’s 97.4. Existing home sales are forecasted to have been at an annualized 4.05 million pace in July versus the prior month’s 4.09 million pace, corresponding to a decrease of 1.0% month-over-month versus the prior month’s decrease of 2.4%. The Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of New York's second-quarter Report on Household Debt and Credit is scheduled for release.
Across the pond, European stocks are mixed in mid-day trading as the British Retail Consortium’s measure of like-for-like retail sales growth for July slowed more than expected to 1.0% year-over-year (YOY) from 1.7% in the prior month.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as the Reserve Bank of Australia left its cash rate target unchanged at 4.35%. National Australia Bank’s measure of business confidence for July remained unchanged at -6, following a downward revision to the prior month's data. Meanwhile, South Korea’s exports and imports during the first 10 days of August increased 45.3% YOY and 23.1% YOY, respectively.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is little changed ahead of the U.S. CPI data out tomorrow.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 1.9% higher at $83.65/barrel amidst uncertainty around the U.S.-Iran conflict.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.2% lower at $4,380.48/ounce.