Wall Street to head higher ahead of Apple product launch event, Fed eyed

The main indices on Wall Street are expected to start on the front foot on Tuesday as investors eyed new product news from Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and the start of the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting meeting ahead of its interest rate decision tomorrow. Spread-betters are expecting the Dow Jones Industrial Average to open up around 186 points at 28,175, while the S&P 500 is forecast to add 23 points to 3,406 and the Nasdaq is predicted to start 124 points higher at 11,400. The market will want to hear any clues about the timing of a release for a new iPhone, which is not expected today, as well for the level of improvements to products like the iPad and Apple Watch. Tech-oriented investors have been also waiting for plans for a new 5G phone, however an announcement of the sort may be further delayed amid the pandemic. According to analysts, the success of the new iPhone SE could well prompt Apple to focus more on the lower end of the iPhone market when it comes to its new iPhone 12, given the current global slowdown.  “Apple certainly needs to do more to justify its current US$2trn valuation, and while the recent share split has made the shares cheaper and as such, more readily available to so-called RobinHood retail traders, there is a risk that its current valuation isn’t truly reflective of the underlying fundamentals,” said Michael Hewson at CMC Markets. Remaining in the industry, analysts at Spreadex are also waiting for White House reaction following the TikTok/Oracle deal. Meanwhile, investors may also have been buoyed by positive economic data out of China, which showed that retail sales in the country grew 0.5% in August, the first time so far in 2020. Six things to watch for on Tuesday: Third quarter results from software group Adobe Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE), which some analysts are expecting to beat market estimates, although analysts will likely keep an eye on any signs of growth deceleration There will also be quarterly earnings data from restaurant chain Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc (NASDAQ:CBRL), which is predicted to suffer a hit to sales as it counts the cost of the US lockdown measures The first day of dealings for cloud computing group Snowflake Inc, which is backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK.A) and Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) The latest New York Empire State Manufacturing Index data for September will be eyed to see if growth has picked up after the index slumped to 3.7 in August from 17.2 in July and well below market forecasts of 15. The latest numbers are likely to provide clarity on the state of the wobbling US economic recovery US industrial production data for August will also be eyed to gauge the state of the American economy, with production rising 3% month-on-month in August but still around 8.7% below the pre-pandemic level in February Similarly, US manufacturing data for the same month will serve a similar purpose as investors hope for a continued reduction in the pace of the slowdown, which has fallen by a lesser amount every month since a sharp 19.7% contraction in April