MW: U.S. stock futures limp higher after Wednesday's rout
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures edged higher Thursday after the beating in the past session, helped by murmurs of another round of coordinated rate cuts amid worries that the entire global economy may slip into a recession.
S&P 500 futures rose 6.6 points to 909.90 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 7 points to 1,236.00. Dow industrial futures rose 38 points.
U.S. stocks crumbled on Wednesday in the wake of a host of downbeat economic data, notably the worst retail sales in three years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 733 points, the S&P 500 fell 90 points and the Nasdaq Composite lost 150 points.
The data isn't likely to be much better on Thursday, with releases on weekly jobless claims, consumer prices for September, industrial production for September, a Philadelphia-area manufacturing survey for October and the NAHB housing index for October.
"Industrial production is expected to decline in September, the Philly Fed is seen sharply lower, and the NAHB may relapse in October," said Philipp Baertschi, an analyst at Sarasin in a note to clients. "The moderation in inflation is a positive, but it is clear now that deflation will be a bigger worry going forward than inflation."
There also was trading room speculation of a fresh set of worldwide rate cuts, but no official pronouncements. Last week, the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and other central banks made unscheduled half-point rate cuts.
The dollar recaptured the 100-yen level vs. the Japanese unit, while oil futures fell $2.33 to $72.21 a barrel. Weekly energy inventory data is due out at 10:30 a.m. Eastern.
Earnings also will be in the spotlight with a flood of releases, notably from Citigroup , United Technologies , Southwest Airlines , Nokia , and after the close, Google and International Business Machines EBay may see pressure as the auctioneer lowered its annual earnings outlook.
"We think the stock will remain under pressure, particularly as business trends on-site appear to have worsened dramatically in September, largely due to the structural issues facing eBay," said analysts at Deutsche Bank, who reiterated a sell rating.
Switzerland announced it was absorbing up to $60 billion of bad assets in UBS and is taking a 9% stake in the world's largest wealth manager. Rival Credit Suisse meanwhile is raising $8.75 billion but isn't taking the Swiss government money or shedding assets.
South Korean shares and the won, the nation's currency, both suffered big losses Thursday, against the backdrop of falling global share prices and concerns over the outlook for the banking sector after Standard & Poor's warned it may cut credit ratings on Kookmin Bank and other major lenders.
The Kospi dropped 9.4% and the Nikkei 225 slumped 11.4% in Tokyo. The European losses weren't as steep but were still hefty, with the FTSE 100 falling 3.2% in London.
