Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Thursday, but gains were expected to be limited as concerns over the euro zone’s debt crisis dominated market sentiment amid surging Spanish and Italian borrowing costs and ahead of key elections in Greece.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.16%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.21% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.11% gain.
Sentiment remained vulnerable after Italy’s Treasury sold the maximum targeted amount of EUR4.5 billion, but the country’s three-year borrowing costs jumped to the highest level since December.
Following the auction, the yield on Italy’s 10-year bonds ticked up to 6.30%, from 6.27% earlier, while the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds was at 6.98%, after briefly rising above the critical 7% threshold, a level seen as unsustainable in the long run.
Investor confidence had weakened after ratings agency Moody’s cut Spain’s credit rating by three notches to just above junk status and warned that further cuts were possible, fuelling fears over the crisis in the country’s banking sector.
Markets were also jittery ahead of Sunday’s closely watched general election in Greece, amid fears that a win for anti-bailout parties could precipitate a Greek exit from the euro zone.
Financial stocks were expected to be active after JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon used his testimony before the U.S. Congress on Wednesday to apologize for the bank's multibillion-dollar trading loss. Shares edged up 0.09% in after hour trade.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs chief executive and Chairman Lloyd Blankfein said he had no plans to relinquish his duties running the bank.
Tech companies were also likely to be in focus after cellphone giant Nokia announced earlier its plans to cut another 10,000 jobs around the world, marking its biggest revamp in recent history. The Finnish company also warned that the second-quarter loss from its cellphone business would be larger than expected.
According to Bloomberg, the world’s largest software maker, Microsoft was preparing to pay more than USD1 billion in a deal to acquire Yammer Inc., operator of a social network for businesses.
The deal would help Microsoft add social-networking tools to the suite of products it offers corporate customers, in addition to stepping up competition with Salesforce.com and Oracle.
Elsewhere in social media, Facebook said it plans to introduce real-time bidding for advertising on its site, a technology already used by Google to target ads more efficiently.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 eased 0.09%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.39%, Germany's DAX dropped 0.43%, while Britain's FTSE 100 retreated 0.67%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.8%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index eased down 0.2%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce official data on consumer price inflation, in addition to a government report on initial unemployment claims.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.16%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.21% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.11% gain.
Sentiment remained vulnerable after Italy’s Treasury sold the maximum targeted amount of EUR4.5 billion, but the country’s three-year borrowing costs jumped to the highest level since December.
Following the auction, the yield on Italy’s 10-year bonds ticked up to 6.30%, from 6.27% earlier, while the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds was at 6.98%, after briefly rising above the critical 7% threshold, a level seen as unsustainable in the long run.
Investor confidence had weakened after ratings agency Moody’s cut Spain’s credit rating by three notches to just above junk status and warned that further cuts were possible, fuelling fears over the crisis in the country’s banking sector.
Markets were also jittery ahead of Sunday’s closely watched general election in Greece, amid fears that a win for anti-bailout parties could precipitate a Greek exit from the euro zone.
Financial stocks were expected to be active after JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon used his testimony before the U.S. Congress on Wednesday to apologize for the bank's multibillion-dollar trading loss. Shares edged up 0.09% in after hour trade.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs chief executive and Chairman Lloyd Blankfein said he had no plans to relinquish his duties running the bank.
Tech companies were also likely to be in focus after cellphone giant Nokia announced earlier its plans to cut another 10,000 jobs around the world, marking its biggest revamp in recent history. The Finnish company also warned that the second-quarter loss from its cellphone business would be larger than expected.
According to Bloomberg, the world’s largest software maker, Microsoft was preparing to pay more than USD1 billion in a deal to acquire Yammer Inc., operator of a social network for businesses.
The deal would help Microsoft add social-networking tools to the suite of products it offers corporate customers, in addition to stepping up competition with Salesforce.com and Oracle.
Elsewhere in social media, Facebook said it plans to introduce real-time bidding for advertising on its site, a technology already used by Google to target ads more efficiently.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 eased 0.09%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.39%, Germany's DAX dropped 0.43%, while Britain's FTSE 100 retreated 0.67%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.8%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index eased down 0.2%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce official data on consumer price inflation, in addition to a government report on initial unemployment claims.