MW: U.S. stock futures climb as voters head to the polls
By Steve Goldstein & Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - U.S. stock futures pointed to an opening climb up Tuesday as voters chose between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama for president and some analysts said bad corporate and economic news is largely priced into the market.
S&P 500 futures rose 20.8 points to 990.3 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 24.5 points to 1,366. Dow industrial futures rose 165 points to 9,497.
"The futures are off to a good start for an Obama rally. Removing the uncertainty and the negative rhetoric is a step in the right direction," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald.
Poll after poll has Obama leading in the race for the White House, with a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll giving the U.S. senator from Illinois an 8-point lead against McCain, a U.S. senator from Arizona. Read more.
U.S. Senate races will also be in the spotlight as a third of the upper chamber's seats are up for grabs.
"For now, the Senate race seems almost as interesting as the presidential one, though we add the caveat that policy intentions aside, the economic reality that will greet either presidential candidate, or any Senate make-up, will be as important a driver of policy as the campaign pledges of either McCain or Obama," said Rob Carnell, an economist at ING in London.
"Under either presidential candidate and under any Senate outcome, U.S. deficits are going to rise, growth is going to be very weak, and inflation likely to come close to zero, or even turn negative."
Overseas, the Nikkei 225 surged 6.3% in Tokyo after a three-day break, while the FTSE 100 added 2.6% in London for its sixth rise in succession.
Factory orders for September highlights Tuesday's thin data release schedule. Overseas, Australia's central bank cut rates by three-quarters of a percentage point.
The dollar rose vs. the Japanese yen but dropped sharply against the euro. Oil futures, after a big drop on Monday, rose 84 cents to $64.75 a barrel.
The financial sector is likely to be active, with the Wall Street Journal reporting the Treasury Department may use more of its $700 billion rescue fund to buy stakes in bond insurers and specialty finance firms, such as General Electric Co.'s GE Capital unit and CIT Group Inc. .
Mohawk Industries Inc.fell in pre-open trade after reporting a $1.39 billion quarterly loss.
Archer Daniels Midland Co. rose in pre-open trade as its earnings blasted by analyst expectations. Read full report.
MasterCard Inc. added 9% as its profit, adjusted for a legal settlement, also beat expectations.
U.S. stocks ended Monday's session in a muted tone, with the Dow industrials falling 5 points, the S&P 500 losing 2 points and the Nasdaq Composite adding 5 points. Dismal U.S. auto sales and a report showing the worst factory orders in 26 years did little to move the dial.
