Stocks Are Set for More Records Ahead of Apple Event

Stock futures are higher ahead of a widely anticipated Apple event. Here's where stocks are trading ahead of the market open on Tuesday.

By Keris Alison Lahiff , Sep 12, 2017 9:01 AM EDT

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Stock futures were higher on Tuesday, Sept. 12, looking to add to Monday's gains ahead of a long-awaited event from Apple Inc. (AAPL) - Get Report .

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.25%, S&P 500 futures added 0.14%, and Nasdaq gained declined 0.21%.

The S&P 500 scored a new record closing high on Monday, Sept. 11, as preliminary assessments showed Hurricane Irma caused less damage than feared and as all was quiet on the North Korea front. The S&P 500 and the Dow both enjoyed their largest gains in six months, according to data from FactSet.

Irma lost some of its steam over the weekend and was downgraded to a tropical storm early Monday as it moved along the Florida coastline and into the southeastern U.S. Irma's strong gusts and powerful storm surge still caused life-threatening conditions, but maximum sustained wind speeds fell to 65 mph from Irma's peak wind speed of 185 mph late last week.

The latest reports said close to 7 million homes and businesses in several states lost power, with the majority of outages in Florida, the Associated Press reported. Utility officials said it could take weeks to restore electricity to everyone. About 70% of Miami is without power Monday.

Irma could still have a sizeable impact on U.S. growth, though. Moody's analysts said combined damages from hurricanes Harvey and Irma could fall in between $150 billion and $200 billion. Goldman Sachs analysts anticipate hurricane damage to have shaved 80 basis points off of third-quarter growth, putting the total at 2%.

"If damages are significantly higher -- or if Florida flooding continues to weigh on consumer spending and housing/investment activity into late September and October -- we would expect additional downside to near-term growth," Goldman said.

Hurricane Irma Might Have a Sizable Impact on U.S. Economy, Goldman Sachs Warns

Apple is expected to unveil three new iPhone models on Tuesday in a widely anticipated event which kicks off at 1 p.m. ET. The world's largest company is anticipated to unveil the iPhone X, a top-of-the-line device designed as a tribute to the smartphone's 10-year anniversary. That model is expected to carry a $1,000 price tag.

Pundits also anticipate a second and third smartphone model at the event, presumably named the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. The Apple Watch 3 could also be unveiled, a device that could connect to LTE wireless networks, rather than rely on the iPhone's Bluetooth connection or compatible Wi-Fi networks.

iPhone X Is Apple's Most Expensive Smartphone Ever: Here's Everything We Know

Apple shares were rising 1% in premarket trading on Tuesday.

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Crude oil prices were higher on Tuesday after a monthly report from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries showed a decline in production in August inside and outside of the cartel. OPEC's August outlook declined by 79,000 barrels a day to 32.76 million as production in Iraq, Libya, Gabon and Venezuela dropped. Hurricane Harvey also crippled production in the U.S.

West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.4% to $48.24 a barrel on Tuesday morning.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin again amped up expectations of tax reform before the year is out, even bringing up the possibility of backdating changes to Jan. 1. At a CNBC "Delivering Alpha" event, Mnuchin said the Trump White House was "super focused" on reform, particularly now that a deal to fund the government through December was made last week.

However, Mnuchin did back off Donald Trump's pledge of a decrease in the corporate tax rate to 15% and said it may not be able to be achieved "given the budget issue."

Equifax Inc. (EFX) - Get Report continued its decline on Tuesday morning in an ongoing fallout after a serious security breach resulted in as many as 143 consumers' data being compromised. Standard & Poor's said late Monday that it changed the outlook on Equifax's credit rating to negative from stable after breach. Equifax's BBB+ credit rating could be lowered if costs to address the internet attack mount or if the company's revenue declines as a result of the incident, S&P said in a statement.

"With substantial litigation expected and potential fines, as well as uncertainty surrounding costs to remediate and possible strategy shifts, we expect that debt leverage could remain elevated," S&P said.