MW: Futures point to careful bounce-back as retail sales loom
MADRID (MarketWatch) — Wall Street was shaping up for a tentative rebound on Thursday, with stock futures higher and oil prices making slight gains, as investors waited for retail-sales data.
In Europe, a weaker-than-expected take-up in the European Central Bank’s cheap-loan operation is expected to put the pressure on the central bank to offer up more stimulus.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJZ4, +0.21% rose 42 points, or 0.2%, to 17,582, while those for the S&P 500 index SPZ5, -1.53% gained 5.2 points, or 0.3%, to 2,031.60. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index NDZ4, +0.15% gained 6.4 points to 4,233.50.
Gains for futures came on the heels of the worst day for stocks in two months, as the energy sector crumbled on a nearly 5% drop for U.S. crude-oil prices. January WTI crude CLF5, +0.74% was up about 0.8% on Wednesday, though analysts were still wary about calling a floor. The S&P 500 index SPX, -1.64% fell 1.6% in its biggest one-day percentage drop since Oct. 13.
Trading volume was heavy again on Wednesday, said Stephen Guilfoyle, chief economist at Sarge986.com, in a note. “Meaningful selling, or another semi-correction that doesn’t seem so bad after the fact? I don’t know yet,” he added. When markets tumble, be like Bogle — ‘Don’t peek’
Retail sales ahead: A busy day for economic news could provide some distraction for traders. Retail sales are expected to show the fastest growth in three months when the November data is released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Economists polled by MarketWatch are expecting a rise of 0.4%, against a 0.3% rise in the prior month. See preview
At the same time, weekly jobless claims are due, and economists expect a reading just about unchanged from the prior week, coming in just below 300,000. Business inventories will be released for October at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Stocks in focus: Lululemon Athletica Inc. LULU, -2.16% reported earnings of 42 cents and a rise of 3% in same-store sales in the third quarter. Ciena Corp. CIEN, -3.58% is due to report ahead of the bell.
eBay Inc. EBAY, -0.23% could see action. The online auctioneer may cut thousands of jobs early next year as it moves to separate its PayPal unit, The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday
Central banks in action overseas: European stocks SXXP, -0.36% inched up moderately after the second round of the ECB’s targeted longer-term refinancing operation fell short of forecasts. The low uptake will put pressure on the central bank to do more to boost the sagging eurozone economy.
“The silver lining is that more cheap money could be coming to the market, and as an investor, Europe could be the best place to bet your money because history confirms that cheap money bloats equity markets,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, in a note.
Greek stocks GD, -3.19% were off another 2%.
The Russian ruble USDRUB, +0.65% hit a record low against the dollar and stayed in that territory after the Russia Central Bank hiked its key interest rate to 10.5%. The Norwegian krone hit a five-year low against the euro after the central bank cut interest rates. Norway has been hard hit by the drop in oil prices.
The dollar USDJPY, +0.62% was stable against the yen, but remained under ¥119, with Japan stocks losing 0.9% as Wall Street selling from Wednesday spread across all Asia markets. Gold prices GCG5, -0.59% were sagging as stocks looked set for a recovery.
