TH: Stock Futures Rise After China's Markets Rally
NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Stock index futures were higher Tuesday morning, reversing the losses from Friday as European shares gained and China's Shanghai Composite rallied.
This morning, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 272 points, or about 1.69% in New York, and S&P 500 E-mini futures were up 1.76%. Nasdaq-100 E-mini futures rose 1.74%. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) ticked lower by 0.11%.
Concordia Healthcare (CXRX) agreed to buy drugmaker Amdipharm Mercury for about $3.5 billion in cash, Bloomberg reported.
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The mining company Glencore PLC said Monday it would scrap dividend payments and sell up to $2.5 billion in stock as it braces for the potential of a deeper selloff in commodity prices, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The supermarket chain Tesco PLC said it would sell its South Korea business for $6.1 billion in cash to private-equity firm MBK Partners, the Journal also reported.
Toshiba said that it had overstated its earnings by about $1.9 billion over seven years, which was more than four times the initial estimate.
And going into the weekend, Canadian energy company Emera agreed to buy Florida-based Teco Energy (TE - Get Report) for $6.5 billion in cash.
Chinese stocks rebounded Tuesday for the first time in five days on speculation state-backed funds bought shares after data showed signs of a weakening economy, Bloomberg reported. China's central bank said yesterday that its foreign-currency reserves fell by a record $93.9 billion in August, when it intervened in the currency market to prop up the yuan. And Chinese imports plunged by 13.8% year on year last month, when exports also fell by 6.2%, providing more evidence that the world's second-largest economy is slowing sharply. U.S. stock markets were closed Monday for Labor Day.
Looking ahead, volatility fomented by the uncertainty over a Federal Reserve rate hike as early as next week (Sept. 16-17) should shape the week, but a weaker jobs report on Friday could postpone any Fed action.
Today, the Fed is scheduled to report the outstanding credit extended to American consumers in July. Total consumer credit is likely to come in at $18.8 billion in July, down from $20.74 billion in the prior month, according to Reuters.
Also on Tuesday, Digital video recorder TiVo (TIVO - Get Report) reports second-quarter earnings. New subscribers are likely to have declined compared to last year and the recent pressure on the cable sector should keep investors cautious.
On Wednesday, Action Alerts PLUS holding Apple (AAPL) is expected to announce new iPhones and an Apple TV box at an event in San Francisco, Calif.
Investors will also be looking for U.S. Labor Department's job openings and labor turnover (JOLTS) data on Wednesday. Job openings, a measure of labor demand, are expected be slightly up to 5.301 million in July, compared with 5.249 million in the prior month.
Wednesday's earnings reports come from security software maker Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Barnes & Noble (BKS) and cloud-storage provider Box (BOX). Strong demand for cybersecurity should continue to propel PANW above estimates, adding to the 30%-plus upside year to date. The BKS story seems to be improving after the bookseller spun off its profitable college books business to focus more on its retail bookstores and hired a new CEO. After raising full-year revenue guidance last quarter, Box will need a solid beat and customer acquisition numbers to impress investors.
Canadian yoga-wear retailer Lululemon Athletica (LULU) reports on Thursday. We can expect revenue growth, but investors should pay attention to how international growth and a weaker Canadian dollar affect the bottom line.
On Friday, supermarket operator Kroger (KR) will need an impressive beat for a pop in its stock after management failed to raise its full-year earnings guidance last quarter, which suggested that further upside might be limited as the company cycles difficult comparisons.
The Labor Department will also release producer price index (PPI) for final demand for August on Friday. Economists expect PPI to have declined 0.1%, after rising 0.2% in July.
Separately, Barron's cover story said U.S. stocks could rally more than 10% by year-end and cited technology and financial stocks as the preferred sectors of Wall Street strategists.
