Oil futures stabilize above $104 a barrel on Globex
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures were mixed before Wednesday’s opening bell, casting doubt on any follow-up on the previous session’s gains, as Wall Street marked the second anniversary of the bull market.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJH11 12,193, -6.00, -0.05%) rose 5 points to 12,204, while futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (SPH11 1,318, -2.10, -0.16%) fell a half-point to 1,319.6 Nasdaq 100 futures (NDH11 2,324, -9.75, -0.42%) were off 3 points at 2,330.8.
On Tuesday, the blue-chip Dow index (DJIA 12,173, -41.02, -0.34%) rallied 124.35 points, or 1%, posting its first gain in three sessions, after Bank of America Corp. (BAC 14.59, -0.10, -0.68%) stoked expectations that it would increase dividends and share buybacks. The S&P 500 index (SPX 1,314, -7.96, -0.60%) rose 0.9% to 1,321.82.
“Today is the second anniversary of the closing low for the S&P 500 (676.53) back near the depths of the credit crisis,” Deutsche Bank noted. Since then, it’s been “one of the biggest two-year price-return periods seen over the last 80 years.”
The S&P 500 has surged about 95% since the March 9, 2009, low. Read more about the second anniversary of the bull market and how to invest in Year 3.
Asian stocks rose overnight, with Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.6%. European stocks were mostly higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 (ST:STOXX600 281.98, +0.17, +0.06%) up 0.3% in midday trades.
The U.S. economic calendar is thin Wednesday. Data on wholesale inventories for January are due at 10 a.m. Eastern time.
In premarket trading, shares of Nokia Corp. (NOK 8.57, +0.06, +0.71%) gained 1.1% after the mobile-phone giant was upgraded to market perform from underperform by Bernstein late Tuesday.
Shares of Finisar Corp. (FNSR 25.17, -14.87, -37.14%) slumped more than 37% in premarket trades after the technology firm’s forecast for the current quarter disappointed investors. Shares of rival JDS Uniphase Corp. (JDSU 22.68, -2.70, -10.64%) also dropped sharply in premarket trading.
Shares of Ciena Corp. (CIEN 24.37, -1.31, -5.11%) sank 4.6%. Earlier this week, Ciena said that its first-quarter loss had widened.
Shares of Dynegy Inc. (DYN 5.65, -0.14, -2.42%) fell 5% in premarket trade after the firm said late Tuesday that it might not be able to continue as a going concern. Read more about Dynegy’s possible bankruptcy.
Traders were also keeping an eye on oil prices. New York crude for April delivery gained 66 cents to $105.68 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
Meanwhile, the dollar fell slightly against its rivals, with the dollar index (DXY 76.77, -0.03, -0.04%) dropping 0.1% to 76.72.
Gold futures for April delivery rose $8.50 to $1,435.70 an ounce.
