Walmart Lifts, Apple Drags On Dow; 2 Chip Leaders Climb

Premarket trading Tuesday was generally positive, with futures for the major indexes showing flat to modest gains.

X Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average edged 0.2% above fair value, with Apple (AAPL) trading lower after an analyst downgrade.

Nasdaq 100 futures clung to a fractional gain, with chipmaker Micron Technologies (MU) holding the index's best gain, while 21st Century Fox (FOX) held the deepest early decline.

S&P 500 futures gained 0.1%, while small caps were quiet, with Russell 2000 futures showing only a scant gain.

The House is expected to vote today on the GOP's tax reform bill, with a Senate vote either today or tomorrow. The day's other economic news is limited, November housing starts and building permits numbers from the Commerce Department are the day's big data point, due at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Apple Downgraded, Walmart Nears Buy Point

Walmart (WMT) rung up an early 1.1% gain, after ending Monday less than 1% below a 98.59 buy point in a four-weeks tight pattern.

Apple took an early dip, down 0.8% after Nomura Instinet downgraded the stock to neutral, from buy, and lowered the stock's price target to 175, from 185. The note said Apple's "gains for the iPhone X supercycle are in the late innings," and that unit and price growth were now baked into the stock's price. Apple shares have been trading pennies above a 176.34 buy point in a flat base.

Chip stocks were well behaved ahead of the open, with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) up 1.5% and looking to add to Monday's 7% gap-up gain.

Micron Technologies also traded 1.5% higher ahead of its fiscal first-quarter report, due out after today's close. Micron has been struggling to retake support at its 10-week moving average since the start of December.

Among IBD 50 names, chip equipment maker Applied Materials (AMAT) climbed 0.9% ahead of the open. The stock is consolidating, ending Monday's session 12% below its Nov. 17 high.

Navistar International (NAV) surged 10% higher, after squarely topping analyst targets in its fiscal fourth quarter. The company reported a 31% sales increase in its core class 6 trucks and buses segment. The stock retook its 10-week moving average Monday, below a 45.57 buy point in a two-month cup base.

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