RTTN:Wall Street Seen Higher On Euro Bond Auctions, Report Of IMF Aid-Boost
(RTTNews) - The U.S. index futures point to a higher opening on Thursday, with some positive developments in Europe helping to extend the optimism that was prevalent yesterday. Germany issued 2013 bonds at a record low yield, while Portugal's treasury bill auction was also fairly positive. Additionally, a Bloomberg report that suggested that the International Monetary Fund is seeking to raise its lending resources by $1 trillion has also served to keep the mood buoyant. A domestic industrial output and housing report may also give direction to markets.
As of 6:30 am ET, the Dow futures are rising 38 points, the S&P 500 futures are adding 4.30 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures are adding 10.50 points.
U.S. stocks overlooked some disconcerting earnings reports and advanced solidly on Tuesday after economic data and a Spanish debt auction offered encouragement.
The Federal Reserve's industrial production report is due out at 9:15 am ET. Economists estimate 0.5 percent growth in industrial production for December after it fell by 0.2 percent in November.
Additionally, the National Association of Homebuilders is scheduled to release the results of its January survey on homebuilders' confidence at 10 am ET. The consensus estimates call for the index to remain unchanged at 21.
At 8:30 am ET, the U.S. Labor Department is scheduled to release its report on the producer price index for December. Economists expect the headline index for December to remain unchanged, but the core producer price index is expected to have risen by 0.1 percent.
The Treasury Department is also due to release a report on the flows of financial instruments into and out of the U.S. for November at 9 am ET.
In corporate news, ADTRAN's (ADTN) fourth quarter results exceeded estimates. Linear Technology's (LLTC) second quarter earnings fell to 38 cents per share from 62 cents per share last year. Revenues fell 23 percent to $294.3 million. Analysts estimated earnings of 39 cents per share on revenues of $293.10 million.
Fulton Financial (FULT) reported fourth earnings of 18 cents per share, up from 16 cents per share last year. The results trailed estimates.
Cree's (CREE) second quarter results as well as the guidance were below estimates.
Ahead of the markets open, Amphenol (APH), Bank of New York Mellon (BK), Charles Schwab (SCHW), Fasternal (FAST), Goldman Sachs (GS), PNC Financial Services Group (PNC), State Street (STT), US Bancorp. (USB) and Northern Trust Corp. (NTRS) are scheduled to release their quarterly results.
Yahoo (YHOO) announced the resignation of Jerry Yang, one of its co-founders, from its board and all other positions with the company, effective yesterday. Yang also resigned from the boards of Yahoo Japan and Alibaba.
(RTTNews) - Lockheed Martin (LMT) said it has acquired Procerus Technologies, a specialist in autopilot and other avionics for micro unmanned aerial systems.
eBay (EBAY), Clarcor (CLC), F5 Networks (FFIV), HB Fuller (FUL), Sanmina-SCI (SANM), Sealy (ZZ), SLM (SLM) and Xilinx (XLNX) are among the companies due to report their quarterly results after the markets close.
The major Asian averages moved about in a lackluster fashion after the previous session's advance, as traders digested a report from World Bank that showed that global economic growth may be lower than it had originally forecast. Japan's Nikkei 225 average ended up 84.18 points or 0.99 percent at 8,551 and Australia's All Ordinaries added 2.90 points or 0.07 percent before closing at 4,281.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended at 19,687, up 59.17 points or 0.30 percent. Meanwhile, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 31.99 points or 1.39 percent before closing at 2,266.
At the same time, European stocks are advancing, with tech stocks leading the gains after ASML (ASML) reported a drop in its fourth quarter profit and revenues, which however was not as steep as analysts had expected. The company also expects a healthy start to 2012 and sees a sequential improvement in booking for the first quarter.
