Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly lower open on Wednesday, as concerns over the handling of Spain’s financial crisis and rising Italian borrowing costs dampened market sentiment.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a low of 0.12%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.25% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.22% loss.
Market sentiment remained fragile amid concerns that a bailout of as much as EUR100 billion for Spain’s banks will add to the country’s debt burden and make it more difficult for Madrid to access credit markets.
Investors were also jittery ahead of Sunday’s general election in Greece, which could determine the country’s future in the euro zone.
Earlier Wednesday, Italy saw borrowing costs surge to the highest level since December at an auction of 12-month government bonds, amid growing fears the country will be the next euro zone member to require a bailout.
Financial stocks were once again expected to be active, as Bank of America said it expects to reduce its long-term debt by about USD40 billion in the second quarter, eliminating interest expense of USD230 million per quarter.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon was set to tell lawmakers that the bank's recent multibillion-dollar trading loss occurred because poorly managed traders embarked in January on a misguided hedging strategy they did not fully understand. JP Morgan shares rose 0.15% in after hour trading.
Defensive stocks were also likely to move in cautious trade on Wednesday. Health care giant Johnson & Johnson climbed 0.94% in early trading, after saying it expects to complete its USD19.7 billion purchase of Swiss medical device maker Synthes on Thursday.
The company added that the deal will slightly boost company profit this year, rather than being a moderate drag on earnings as previously expected.
Also in pharmaceuticals, an experimental Merck & Co insomnia drug reportedly significantly reduced the time it took patients to fall asleep and helped them stay asleep longer, according to data from a pair of pivotal late-stage studies.
Other stocks in focus included social networking website LinkedIn Corp. The company said on Tuesday that it will provide an additional layer of online security to its members following last week's data breach, while adding that stolen passwords were not published with corresponding email logins.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 eased up 0.01%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.31%, Germany's DAX dropped 0.42%, while Britain's FTSE 100 edged down 0.04%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged 0.4% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.6%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and producer price inflation, as well as a report on crude oil stockpiles.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a low of 0.12%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.25% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.22% loss.
Market sentiment remained fragile amid concerns that a bailout of as much as EUR100 billion for Spain’s banks will add to the country’s debt burden and make it more difficult for Madrid to access credit markets.
Investors were also jittery ahead of Sunday’s general election in Greece, which could determine the country’s future in the euro zone.
Earlier Wednesday, Italy saw borrowing costs surge to the highest level since December at an auction of 12-month government bonds, amid growing fears the country will be the next euro zone member to require a bailout.
Financial stocks were once again expected to be active, as Bank of America said it expects to reduce its long-term debt by about USD40 billion in the second quarter, eliminating interest expense of USD230 million per quarter.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon was set to tell lawmakers that the bank's recent multibillion-dollar trading loss occurred because poorly managed traders embarked in January on a misguided hedging strategy they did not fully understand. JP Morgan shares rose 0.15% in after hour trading.
Defensive stocks were also likely to move in cautious trade on Wednesday. Health care giant Johnson & Johnson climbed 0.94% in early trading, after saying it expects to complete its USD19.7 billion purchase of Swiss medical device maker Synthes on Thursday.
The company added that the deal will slightly boost company profit this year, rather than being a moderate drag on earnings as previously expected.
Also in pharmaceuticals, an experimental Merck & Co insomnia drug reportedly significantly reduced the time it took patients to fall asleep and helped them stay asleep longer, according to data from a pair of pivotal late-stage studies.
Other stocks in focus included social networking website LinkedIn Corp. The company said on Tuesday that it will provide an additional layer of online security to its members following last week's data breach, while adding that stolen passwords were not published with corresponding email logins.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 eased up 0.01%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.31%, Germany's DAX dropped 0.42%, while Britain's FTSE 100 edged down 0.04%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged 0.4% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.6%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and producer price inflation, as well as a report on crude oil stockpiles.