By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock index futures gained ground Friday, keeping in step with global equity gains but still leaving Wall Street on track for a weekly loss in the wake of lackluster earnings and concerns about growth prospects.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJM3 +0.53% rose 81 points, or 0.6%, to 14,491, while S&P 500 Index futures SPM3 +0.70% gained 9.5 points to 1,543.50. Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 15.5 points to 2,755.
Central bank liquidity and cheaper valuations compared to past S&P 500 peaks should offer some reassurance for bulls despite slowing earnings momentum, said Joe Prendergast, head of global FX, fixed income and credit research, in a note.
“Today, plentiful liquidity, reasonable valuation and low inflation offer some reassurance, even if the near-term picture is clouded with cyclical, seasonal and earnings concerns,” he said.
U.S. stocks fell for a second consecutive day Thursday following a run of disappointing earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA -0.56% was down 2.2% week-to-date after Thursday’s close.
But Asian stocks started the global trading day Friday with strong gains, with traders taking a positive view on a rebound in commodity prices. The Shanghai Composite CN:000001 +2.14% rose 2.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average JP:NIK +0.73% climbed 0.7%.
European stocks followed suit, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index XX:SXXP +0.76% up 0.5%.
Skeptics contend it will be difficult to drum up lasting bargain-hunting interest.
The Dow is still squaring up “to face its biggest weekly loss in almost a year and some further mixed earnings news last night has done little to help rally sentiments ahead of the weekend break,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT Markets in London.
“With a very thin economic calendar on the cards for Friday too, it really is difficult to see where any meaningful support is going to come from, as at these levels even the scope for bargain hunting is rather limited,” he said.
Earnings are on tap from Dow components General Electric Co. GE -0.40% and McDonald’s Corp. MCD -0.61% , as well as Honeywell International Inc. HON -0.58% , Kimberly-Clark Corp. KMB +0.70% , Schlumberger Ltd. SLB +0.04% and State Street Corp. STT -1.36% .
Dow component International Business Machines Corp. IBM -1.20% saw pressure in after-hours trade Thursday after posting disappointing results.
Dell Inc. DELL -0.14% will be in focus after Blackstone Group LP ended its pursuit of the computer maker, citing declining personal-computer sales industrywide. Blackstone had aimed to trump the $24.4 billion offer from founder and Chief Executive Michael Dell and private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners.
Meanwhile, dramatic events unfolding late Thursday and in the early hours of Friday have left a Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus officer dead and one suspected bomber in the Boston Marathon is reportedly dead after a shootout with police. Another suspect is reportedly at large. Several areas around the Watertown area around Boston is in police lockdown amid a manhunt for the second suspect. Read the latest
William L. Watts is MarketWatch's European bureau chief, based in Frankfurt. Follow him on Twitter @wlwatts.
