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The VIX was last marked 9.6% lower in the overnight session at $16.39, a level that suggests traders are expecting daily swings of 1.02%, or 56 points, for the S&P 500 over the next thirty days.
Focus in today’s session will shift to the health of the U.S. consumer, with the Commerce Department reporting July retail sales figures and Walmart (WMT) posting its second quarter earnings update prior to the opening bell.
The Atlanta Fed will also updates its GDPNow forecast later in the session, with investors looking for updates from its current-quarter growth estimate of 2.9%.
Related: Main Street businesses push back on Wall Street’s recession gloom
Heading into the start of the trading day on Wall Street, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500, which is now nearly flat for the quarter, are priced for a modest opening bell gain of around 9 points.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, is called 100 points higher while the tech-focused Nasdaq is set for a 60 point advance to start the session.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields were last marked at 3.847% heading into the start of the New York trading session, with 2-year notes trading at 3.964%.
In Europe, trading volumes owning to Assumption Day observances around the region, although the Stoxx 600 was open for dealing and was last up 0.19% in the mid-day session.
Britain’s FTSE 100, meanwhile, was essentially unchanged from last night’s close following GDP data showing a modest 0.6% expansion over the three months ending in June.
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Overnight in Asia, stocks in China ended higher following a mixed set of July economic data, which included a disappointing reading for industrial output, that stoked bets for a new stimulus boost from the central government.
In Japan, a stronger-than-expected second quarter GDP reading of 3.1%, well ahead of the 2.1% forecast, lifted the Nikkei 225 0.78% into the close of trading and pegged the benchmark at its highest levels since August 1.
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