LEN Lennar Corp

By Ellie Ismailidou and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

Market on track for second day of gains sparked by Brexit polls

U.S. stock futures gained ahead of the open on Tuesday as investors prepared for a speech by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen.

Investors continued to closely follow the latest polls from the U.K., where the so-called Brexit referendum is set to take place on Thursday.

S&P 500 futures advanced by 6 points, or 0.3%, to 2,080, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures moved up by 39 points, or 0.2%, to 17,748. Nasdaq-100 futures tacked on 12 points, or 0.3%, to 4,402.

The gains come after the S&P 500 closed 0.6% higher on Monday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/djia-points-to-200-point-gain-as-polls-show-brexit-support-weakening-2016-06-20), and the Dow added 0.7%, or 129.71 points. The stock market was helped by polls showing support swinging back toward the U.K. remaining a member of the European Union.

See:Soros says Brexit aftermath will be worse than time he broke Bank of England (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/soros-says-brexit-aftermath-will-be-worse-than-time-he-broke-the-bank-of-england-2016-06-20)

Yellen is due to speak at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, delivering her semi-annual testimony before the Senate Banking Committee.

Fed watchers and traders will be looking for signs of the health of the domestic economy and when the U.S. central bank will resume raising interest rates.

"In particular she needs to reconcile contradictory forecasts about the U.S. economy," said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, in emailed comments.

On one hand, "St. Louis Fed President [James] Bullard recently switched from being a hawk calling for two rate hikes this year to an ultra-dove calling for one rate hike between now and the end of 2018," Cieszynski said. Bullard's comments suggested that "the U.S. is going to struggle for a long time to come and perhaps fall back into recession."

On the other hand, home builder Lennar (LEN) on Tuesday posted quarterly earnings and revenue (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lennar-posts-double-digit-gains-in-new-orders-2016-06-21) that topped Wall Street's forecasts while its CEO made statements that "suggest an expanding economy," Cieszynski added.

Read:'Could a Trump victory hurt the economy?' and other questions for Yellen (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/could-a-trump-victory-hurt-the-economy-and-other-tough-questions-coming-janet-yellens-way-2016-06-18)

But others played down the Fed chief's appearance before U.S. lawmakers. It "has to be the most pointless speech from a Fed chairman in recent memory," said Chris Weston, an IG market analyst based in Australia. "The markets have a myopic focus on one thing: the U.K. referendum vote."

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/could-a-trump-victory-hurt-the-economy-and-other-tough-questions-coming-janet-yellens-way-2016-06-18)On the Brexit front, investors were tracking various polls, the latest of which showed a split vote, with a slight advantage for the "remain" vote, which got 45% of voters, while the "leave" vote got 44%.

Other markets: European stocks advanced moderately after soaring Monday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-leap-as-brexit-polls-show-shift-to-remain-camp-2016-06-20) as Brexit fears abated, while Asian markets closed mostly higher (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nikkei-leads-asia-mostly-higher-as-bets-against-brexit-rise-2016-06-21).

July West Texas Intermediate crude traded lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/crude-oil-turns-lower-as-markets-refocus-on-supply-issues-2016-06-21) as market players turned their attention back to oversupply worries. The July contract expires at Tuesday's settlement, and August will become the front month for WTI. Gold futures (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-extends-decline-ahead-of-yellen-testimony-brexit-vote-2016-06-21) and the ICE U.S. Dollar Index both lost ground.

Read: The Brexit gold bet could be the smartest, or the dumbest, ever (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-brexit-gold-bet-could-be-the-smartest-or-the-dumbest-ever-2016-06-21)

Company news: Ahead of the open, home builder Lennar Corp.(LEN) posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lennar-posts-double-digit-gains-in-new-orders-2016-06-21). Shares rose 3.7% in premarket trading.

Used-car seller CarMax Inc.(KMX) fell 2.9% premarket, after the company's profit and sales lagged estimates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/carmax-profit-and-sales-lag-estimates-2016-06-21).

Sabre Corp. shares (SABR) could move after the travel software company said CEO Tom Klein plans to resign (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sabre-corp-ceo-klein-to-resign-2016-06-20).

Facebook Inc.(FB) executives reiterated interest in entering China (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-still-hopes-to-gain-entry-to-china-2016-06-20), while answering questions Monday at the company's annual shareholder meeting. Shares were 0.4% higher in premarket action.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 21, 2016 09:22 ET (13:22 GMT)

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