Opening Comment — Tuesday, February 10, 2026
DJIA: 50,135.87, up 20.20
S&P 500: 6,964.82, up 32.52
NASDAQ: 23,238.67, up 207.46
Stocks higher ahead of retail sales data
Stock futures are mostly higher Tuesday morning following a reading of small business optimism unexpectedly declining. Meanwhile, investors are looking forward to today’s economic releases, including data on December’s retail sales and import prices. As of 7:15 AM ET, the Dow is little changed, while the S&P 500 is up 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 is also increasing 0.2% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mostly higher on Monday as the Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of New York’s one-year ahead inflation expectations eased more than projected to 3.09%. The Dow increased slightly and reached a new record closing level of 50135.87, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9%. The S&P 500 increased 0.5% with seven of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Information Technology sector was the top performer, rising 1.6%, while the Health Care sector was the bottom performer, falling 0.9%.
On the data front, the National Federation of Independent Business’s gauge of small business optimism decreased to 99.3 in January from the prior month’s 99.5. The December Import Price Index is projected to rise 0.1% both month over month (MOM) and year over year (YOY), with the YOY figure matching the previous month’s pace. The Export Price Index is expected to increase 0.1% MOM and 3.0% YOY, with the YOY reading easing from 3.3% in the prior month. The fourth-quarter Employment Cost Index is projected to come in at 0.8% quarter-over-quarter, similar to the prior reading. Retail sales are expected to have increased 0.4% MOM in December versus the prior month’s 0.6% gain, while retail sales excluding autos are forecasted to have risen 0.4% MOM versus the prior month’s 0.5%. Business inventories are expected to have risen 0.2% MOM in November, versus the prior month’s 0.3% increase.
Across the pond, European stocks are mixed in mid-day trading as the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported that the U.K.’s like-for-like retail sales growth for January accelerated to 2.3% YOY from the prior month’s 1.0% increase. France’s fourth-quarter unemployment rate edged up to 7.9%, while the mainland rate rose to 7.7%, against expectations for both to hold steady.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly higher as Westpac’s Consumer Confidence Index for Australia declined by 2.6% MOM in February. Meanwhile, National Australia Bank’s measure of business confidence for January edged up to 3 from the prior month’s downwardly revised reading of 2. Japanese machine tool orders increased by 25.3% YOY preliminarily in January.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly higher ahead of today’s U.S. retail sales data release.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.4% higher at $64.62/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.1% lower at $5,052.59/ounce following a strengthening U.S. dollar.