By Kate Gibson and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures rose on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 poised for gains after a two-session bout of losses, helped as European markets rose and Asian markets trimmed declines.
India’s Apollo Tyres Ltd. is acquiring Ohio’s Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. CTB +41.08% in a $2.5 billion deal, which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. Shares of Cooper Tire were up 40% in premarket trading.
Futures for the Dow industrials DJM3 +0.48% rose 67 points, or 0.4%, to 15,205, while those for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index SPM3 +0.63% rose 7.8 points, or 0.5%, to 1,634.90. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index NDM3 +0.52% rose 11.5 points, or 0.4%, to 2,975.
Investors will likely keep their eyes on global markets Wednesday as the session’s sole economic report comes at 2 p.m. Eastern, with May’s deficit scheduled for release. See preview
A calmer situation for bonds also helped the equity market, said Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank, in emailed remarks.
“The focus is in fixed income — U.S. and Japanese,” said Jakobsen. “Yesterday had people worried as convexity is an issue in mortgage bonds when 10-year futures trade below 128-16/17.”
For Wednesday, he noted futures were back up to around 128 27/32, “which means danger has passed for now, at least.” Read: Treasury prices end higher as early selloff lures buyers
“The focus in rates is driven from nervousness about Abenomics failing — yield is up, not down, since QE Infinite’s introduction April 6 — which has translated into higher volatility,” Jakobsen said. That ultimately slowed down the dollar against the yen and again increased volatility, he added.
