Peter Nurse   

Investing.com: U.S. stocks open largely unchanged Tuesday. This is despite a strong earnings season ahead of the release key inflation data.

At 7:05 AM ET (1305 GMT), the contract had fallen 30 points or 0.1% while trading 2 points (0.1%) higher. It also climbed 25 percent, or 0.2%, to reach its highest point of 0.2%.

On Monday, the three main indices closed at new records. The blue chip gained over 100 points (or 0.3%), while the broad-based climbed 0.1%. This was the longest consecutive winning streak for a daily basis since December 2019 with an additional 0.1%.

As the country recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, the passage of the much-anticipated infrastructure bill added to the positivity created by a friendly central bank. 

Also helping has been a generally beneficial earnings season – 445 of the S&P 500 companies have reported as of early Monday, and average earnings growth of 38% has been better than the 27% consensus forecast, according to Goldman Sachs (NYSE:) analysts. The analysts also observed that profit margins are holding up in surprising wide ranges of industries.

The Quarterly Reporting Season is coming to an end. However, DR Horton is poised to make a strong start. They reported a jump of earnings due to rising house prices. Wynn Resorts is due (NASDAQ:), and Coinbase is due (NASDAQ:). 

Other locations General Electric The announcement by the industrial conglomerate (NYSE:) that it will split into three units will put the company in spotlight. This follows years of low performance.

Robinhood (NASDAQ:) will also be in focus after the company, which runs a trading app for retail investors, revealed a data security breach which saw  “a limited amount of personal information” being compromised.

AMC Entertainment (NYSE:), the U.S.’s largest movie theater chain, posted a narrower loss and higher revenue than expected, while TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:), the travel-booking company, disappointed on both the top- and bottom-line with its third quarter results. 

Also of interest will be this week’s inflation data, starting with the at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT), followed by the on Wednesday. Economists expect producer prices to rise 0.6% in October compared to the previous month, which would translate to an 8.7% annual increase. 

Crude oil prices rose Tuesday due to continued gains and the tight supply. There are also signs that there is an economic recovery after the pandemic.

Investors are now awaiting oil supply data on Tuesday, and Wednesday from the U.S. 

The U.S. crude oil inventories will likely rise for the third consecutive week. This could help to limit further gains.

U.S. crude futures had traded at $82.30 per barrel by 7:05 ET. The contract rose 0.4%, to $83.75.

The price fell 0.2% to $1.825.00/oz. However, it was 0.1% less at 1.1581.