FOX Business: The Power to Prosper
Stock futures were pointing to a modest rebound on the heels of a four-day losing streak for the blue chips, while the dollar dipped against a broad swath of world currencies.
Today's Markets
As of 8:00 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 41 points to 12,128, S&P 500 futures were up 5.6 points to 1,291 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 9.5 points to 2,284.
The dollar took a hit after a Chinese official warned of "economic and political risks in excessive holdings of the U.S. dollar," according to Reuters. The official also noted that U.S. policies might weaken the dollar and boost inflation domestically.
The greenback was recently off 0.5% against a basket of world currencies, and the euro climbed 0.58% against the dollar.
The Dow has fallen nearly 4% in the last four trading sessions, the worst losing streak in nearly a year. A flurry of downbeat economic data incited fears among market participants that the pace of the global economic recovery may be slowing down.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to give a speech on the economy at 3:45 p.m. ET. Traders will be looking to see the Fed chief's assessment of economic conditions, and how it could affect the central bank's monetary policy.
The Fed's controversial quantitative easing program, QE2, in which it has purchased huge levels of long-term treasuries, is scheduled to end in June. The Fed has also kept short-term interest rates at historically low levels to help jump-start the economy, and Bernanke has noted repeatedly that the Fed expects to keep rates low for an extended period.
Energy markets were in negative territory as traders awaited the start of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting on Wednesday. Energy traders will be paying particularly close attention to Saudi Arabia's oil production, according to Olivier Jakob, managing director at Petromatrix, a Swiss energy consultancy.
Jakob also notes volatility could be particularly high toward the end of the week as a result of the OPEC meeting and a European Central Bank meeting that could affect currency rates. Oil is generally very sensitive to exchange rates.
Light, sweet crude was off 79 cents, or 0.79%, to $98.22 a barrel. Wholesale RBOB gasoline slipped 1 cent, or 0.41%, to $2.94 a gallon.
In metals, gold was up 20 cents, or 0.02%, to $1,548 a troy ounce. Silver jumped 49 cents, or 1.3% to $37.30.
In corporate news, International Paper (IP: 29.65, -0.23, -0.77%) unveiled an unsolicited offer to acquire its rival Temple-Inland (TIN: 21.01, -0.68, -3.14%) for $3.3 billion.
Foreign Markets
The English FTSE 100 was up 0.18% to 5,873, the French CAC 40 climbed 0.46% to 3,881 and the German DAX rose 0.55% to 7,124.
In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 traded higher by 0.67% to 9,443 and the Chinese Hang Seng slipped 0.35% to 22,869.
