Futures Point to Continuation of Tuesday's Monster Rally; Nvidia Earnings After the Close in Focus

It doesn't take much to enflame Wall Street's animal spirits - a tweet, a headline, Nvidia earnings - and ignite a stock market rally, and it wasn't much that led to Tuesday's massive gains, all but wiping out the losses from the previous week.

A headline that Europe wished to "fast-track" trade and tariff talks with the Trump administration greeted traders returning from the Memorial Day weekend, with the algorithms tuned up to maximum volume.

Adding to the euphoric early vibe was the Conference Board, the usually-stodgy gang reporting blowout numbers in consumer expectations. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose 12.3 points in May to 98, up from April’s 85.7, its lowest reading since May 2020. Another measure, that of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business conditions and the job market jumped 17.4 points to 72.8.

Investors went all in on stocks, disregarding last week's bond rout while looking ahead to Nvidia (NVDA) earnings after the bell Wednesday.

The Dow gained 740 points after losing more than 1,000 last week. The NASDAQ and S&P also shot higher and continued to rally throughout the short week's opening session. The NASDAQ finished just 8 points short of wiping out all of last week's losses.

Traders and speculators were keen on earnings from Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS), and Macy's (M), all reporting first quarter results prior to the open Wednesday.

Dick's, which announced a buyout of Foot Locker last week, was all the rage, the stock jumping more than five percent in pre-market gambling. The buzz was even greater for clothing retailer, Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), the stock rocketing pre-market, up 27% as management is seen executing well on turnaround plans.

Enthusiasm was less pronounced for Macy's (M), with the stock only gaining about three percent prior to the bell. Macy's, once one of America's leading general merchandise retailers, has been trading below $20 per share for the past two years and is currently quoted at $12.

With Nbidia's earnings due out after the closing bell, Wednesday looks to be a continuation of the push back toward all-time highs.

Stock futures are moderately higher at 9:00 am ET. Dow: +13; S&P: +7.75; NASDAQ: +57.

At the Close, Tuesday, May 27, 2025:
Dow: 42,343.65, +740.58 (+1.78%)
NASDAQ: 19,199.16, +461.96 (+2.47%)
S&P 500: 5,921.54, +118.72 (+2.05%)
NYSE Composite: 19,829.89, +295.04 (+1.51%)