US markets expected to claw back some of Monday’s hefty losses but commentators remain wary

US stocks are expected to claw back some of Monday’s hefty losses in early trading on Tuesday, although commentators remain wary about future progress Spread betting quotes point to the Dow Jones Industrials Average rising 171 points to 34,133, the S&P 500 advancing 22 points to 4,280, and the Nasdaq 100 climbing 77 points to 14,626. “Yesterday’s ‘risk-off’ price action delivered a healthy pullback for equity markets,” according to Julien Lafargue, the chief market strategist at Barclays Private Bank. “The worsening of COVID-19 infections, vaccinations, hospitalisations, and fatalities – accompanied by the reintroduction of some restrictions and signs of further economic slowdown, weighed on sentiment. The narrative of ‘peak everything’, in terms of earnings, macroeconomic momentum and policy approach, seems to be becoming a reality. “This is happening at a time when the market’s ability to absorb setbacks looks limited as optimism is running high and valuations appear full. In addition, investors are struggling to see who will come to their rescue this time around. We already have vaccines, central banks and governments aren’t keen to increase stimulus, and corporate earnings are already expected to surprise positively. “The volatile summer is upon us, and the price action could remain choppy,” Larargue said. Five things to watch: Amazon Inc. founder Jeff Bezos and three other passengers are scheduled to launch on Blue Origin LLC’s New Shepard spacecraft at 9am ET on Tuesday from a company facility in West Texas. The planned flight would be Blue Origin’s inaugural crewed mission and a milestone toward Bezos’ goal of developing a viable space business. International Business Machines Corp. posed a second straight quarter of higher revenue, with the top-line increase of 3.4% - IBM’s biggest gain in three years - coing as the company is undergoing extensive changes, including the planned spinoff of some of its legacy IT activities that remain a multibillion-dollar business. Ben & Jerry’s has said it would stop selling its products in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and parts of contested East Jerusalem when its license agreement expires, as the Ice cream maker takes another activist stance. Sales in the settlements of Palestinian territories were “inconsistent with our values,” the company said Monday in a statement on its website. Nasdaq Inc. is teaming up with a group of banks including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to spin out its marketplace for shares of private companies, a deal that could help drive more transactions to Nasdaq Private Market, the Wall Street Journal reported in an exclusive. Thousands of opioid-crisis lawsuits filed against major drugmakers and distributors are nearing a conclusion, with the outlines of a $26 billion deal between states and four companies expected to be announced this week and a $1 billion settlement to resolve some of New York’s claims likely on Tuesday, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.