US stock markets are expected to open slightly higher on Tuesday morning, with investors welcoming better-than-expected retail sales as encouraging for growth.

Half an hour before the opening, futures contracts on the main New York indices were up 0.2%, heralding a green start to the session.

Investors seem to have appreciated the better-than-expected retail sales figures, which are good news for the world's leading economy, which some analysts see slowing in the second half of the year.

According to data published by the Commerce Department, retail sales remained flat on a sequential basis in June, whereas they had been expected to fall by 0.2%.

Although better than expected, this statistic is not strong enough to call into question hopes of Fed intervention by the end of the year to support growth.

The prospect of a rate cut was even reinforced this morning by import price figures, which were unchanged in June, showing that inflation is increasingly under control in the country.

Over the past two months, the market's rise has been largely driven by the easing of inflationary pressures and the increasing likelihood of monetary easing as early as September.

But with the S&P 500 up by more than 18% since the start of the year, the market now appears tired and is beginning to show signs of running out of steam, which is reflected in a sector rotation away from the tech giants that have driven the trend this year towards small and mid caps, real estate and healthcare.

As has often been the case since the start of the quarterly publication season, the results released this morning by the major banking groups were mixed.

Bank of America reported a fall in second-quarter net income to $6.9 billion, or $0.83 per share, compared with $0.88 a year earlier, partly due to a rise in provisions for credit losses to $1.5 billion.

Morgan Stanley reported better-than-expected earnings, boosted in particular by renewed activity on the M&A and IPO fronts.

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