Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Wednesday, as U.S. markets prepared to reopen after Hurricane Sandy, while comments by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy boosted sentiment.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.41% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.44% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.12% gain.
Spain’s prime minister said his country needs the help of the European Union to meet its budget goals, but that EU progress on a banking union would allow leeway on making a formal request for aid.
Speaking in the Spanish Parliament, Mr. Rajoy also said that an agreement on direct bank recapitalization is getting closer and that such an agreement would improve market confidence.
Meanwhile, investors were looking ahead to Chinese manufacturing data on Thursday, as well as Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report amid concerns over the global economic recovery.
Auto stocks were expexted to be active, after Ford Motor said on Tuesday that it posted a better-than-expected profit in the third quarter, sending shares up 4.54% in pre-market trade.
Ford reported USD2.3 billion pretax profit in North America, its best performance since the company began reporting separate North American results 12 years ago.
According to company officials, the region has been profitable for three years now, after a grueling restructuring that saw thousands of job cuts, plant closures and the accelerated development of new products like the Focus sedan.
In the tech sector, Advanced Micro Devices was likely to be in focus after introducing a new line of faster, more energy-efficient processors for handsets and to expand in the server market dominated by competitor Intel. Shares in AMD climbed 2.90% in early trading.
Elsewhere, Home Depot saw shares surged 4.65% pre-market after announcing that it successfully closed the merger of U.S. Home Systems, Inc. The deal has been valued at approximately USD95.0 million and is expected to help build a better relationship with the customers by providing them improved home services.
Companies that have delayed posting third quarter earnings from Wednesday until Thursday include Arch Capital, Automatic Data Processing and Avon Products.
Hess, Dendreon and McGraw Hill delayed until Friday.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed to higher. The EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.44%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.14%, Germany's DAX rose 0.48%, while Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.23%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped 0.98%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce official data on manufacturing activity in Chicago, as well as a government report on crude oil inventories.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.41% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.44% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.12% gain.
Spain’s prime minister said his country needs the help of the European Union to meet its budget goals, but that EU progress on a banking union would allow leeway on making a formal request for aid.
Speaking in the Spanish Parliament, Mr. Rajoy also said that an agreement on direct bank recapitalization is getting closer and that such an agreement would improve market confidence.
Meanwhile, investors were looking ahead to Chinese manufacturing data on Thursday, as well as Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report amid concerns over the global economic recovery.
Auto stocks were expexted to be active, after Ford Motor said on Tuesday that it posted a better-than-expected profit in the third quarter, sending shares up 4.54% in pre-market trade.
Ford reported USD2.3 billion pretax profit in North America, its best performance since the company began reporting separate North American results 12 years ago.
According to company officials, the region has been profitable for three years now, after a grueling restructuring that saw thousands of job cuts, plant closures and the accelerated development of new products like the Focus sedan.
In the tech sector, Advanced Micro Devices was likely to be in focus after introducing a new line of faster, more energy-efficient processors for handsets and to expand in the server market dominated by competitor Intel. Shares in AMD climbed 2.90% in early trading.
Elsewhere, Home Depot saw shares surged 4.65% pre-market after announcing that it successfully closed the merger of U.S. Home Systems, Inc. The deal has been valued at approximately USD95.0 million and is expected to help build a better relationship with the customers by providing them improved home services.
Companies that have delayed posting third quarter earnings from Wednesday until Thursday include Arch Capital, Automatic Data Processing and Avon Products.
Hess, Dendreon and McGraw Hill delayed until Friday.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed to higher. The EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.44%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.14%, Germany's DAX rose 0.48%, while Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.23%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped 0.98%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce official data on manufacturing activity in Chicago, as well as a government report on crude oil inventories.