Stocks: 4 things to know before the bell

1. Relief rally continues: U.S. stocks are poised to continue rising after a big relief rally on Monday.

Wall Street’s fears about the North Korea nuclear crisis have faded for now, giving stocks a boost.
State media reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has finished reviewing a plan to fire four missiles off Guam, and has opted to wait to see what the “foolish Yankees” do next, apparently putting the onus on President Trump to make the next move.

Easing concerns about a nuclear standoff helped push the S&P 500 up by 1% on Monday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index rallied by 1.3% and the Dow Jones industrial average climbed 0.6%.

U.S. stock futures are currently pointing up. European markets are mixed in early trading, while most Asian markets ended Tuesday with modest gains.

2. CEOs ditching Trump: Intel (INTC, Tech30) CEO Brian Krzanich became the third top business leader to step down from President Trump’s manufacturing council.

He followed the chiefs of Merck (MRK) and Under Armour (UA), who announced their decisions earlier Monday amid the fallout over Trump’s response to violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“I resigned because I want to make progress, while many in Washington seem more concerned with attacking anyone who disagrees with them,” Krzanich wrote in a blog post.

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3. Retail review: A number of major retailers are reporting earnings this week.

Things kick off before the opening bell with quarterly results from Coach (COH), Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), Home Depot (HD) and TJX (TJX), the company that runs T.J.Maxx.

Then Urban Outfitters (URBN) will release earnings after the close.

Later in the week companies such as Target (TGT), Gap (GPS) and Walmart (WMT) are reporting earnings.

On the economic front, the Census Bureau plans to release its July retail sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET.

It’s been a slow summer so far. Retail sales declined in May and June. Americans are spending less at gas stations, grocery stores, department stores, restaurants and bars.

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4. Coming this week:

Tuesday — Retailers report quarterly results
Wednesday — NAFTA talks begin; Target (TGT) and Cisco (CSCO, Tech30) earnings
Thursday — Walmart (WMT) and Gap (GPS) earnings
Friday — University of Michigan releases consumer confidence report for August