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| | US Market |  | | Shanghai | Hang Seng | NIKKEI | ASX |  |  |  |  | | | The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a roughly flat open on Wednesday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction after trending higher over the past few sessions. A lack of major U.S. economic data may lead to a lackluster performance on Wall Street, as traders look ahead to the release of reports on weekly jobless claims, pending home sales, and personal income and spending later in the week.
After moving mostly higher in early trading, stocks continued to perform well throughout the trading day on Tuesday. The gains on the day extended the recent upward move by the markets, with the S&P 500 reaching a new record closing high.
While the major averages all closed firmly in positive territory, the tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts. The Nasdaq jumped 51.26 point or 1.2 percent to 4,237.07, while the Dow rose 69.23 point or 0.4 percent to 16,675.50 and the S&P 500 climbed 11.38 points or 0.6 percent to 1,911.91.
The strength on Wall Street was partly due to the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing an unexpected increase in durable goods orders in the month of April.
Before the start of trading, the Commerce Department said durable goods orders increased by 0.8 percent in April after surging up by an upwardly revised 3.6 percent in March. The increase surprised economists, who had expected orders to drop by 0.7 percent.
Positive sentiment was also generated by a separate report from the Conference Board showing that consumer confidence improved in line with economist estimates in the month of May.
Biotechnology stocks turned in a particularly strong performance on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 2 percent. With the gain, the index ended the session at its best closing level in almost two months.
Considerable strength was also visible among networking stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Networking Index. Computer hardware, internet, and semiconductor also saw significant strength, contributing to the strong upward move by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
While strength was also visible among financial stocks, gold stocks came under substantial selling pressure on the day amid a sharp drop by the price of the precious metal
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| | US Economic Reports | | | | CADUSD | Oil | Gold | Allbanc |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | While there are no major U.S. economic reports due to be released on the day, the Treasury Department is due to announce the results of its auction of $35 billion worth of five-year notes at 1 pm ET. |
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| | Stocks in Focus | | | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | Shares of PetroLogistics (PDH) are moving sharply higher in pre-market trading after the propylene producer agreed to be acquired by a subsidiary of Koch Industries in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.1 billion, including debt.
Luxury home builder Toll Brothers (TOL) is also likely to see early strength after reporting better than expected second quarter results.
Michael Kors (KORS) also reported fiscal fourth quarter results that came in above analyst estimates. The luxury goods retailer also provided an upbeat outlook for the full year.
On the other hand, shares of DWS Inc. (DWS) are likely to come under pressure after the discount shoe retailer reporter first quarter results that came in below estimates and cut its full-year guidance.
Cracker Barrel (CBRL) could also see early weakness after the operator of country stores and restaurants reported third quarter earnings that came in just above analyst estimates but lowered its earnings guidance for the full year. |
| | European Market | | European stocks started lower but have pared their losses and are currently mixed, as traders digest domestic economic data.
In corporate news, Royal Bank of Scotland plans to cut up to 400 jobs in its U.S. trading business over the next two years as part of the British lender's efforts to reduce its assets ahead of tough new U.S. regulations, media reports suggest.
Dutch supermarket chain Ahold reported first-quarter net income of 50 million euros compared with 1.95 billion euros last year.
On the economic front, the German Federal Labor Agency reported that the unemployment rate for Germany remained unchanged at 6.7 percent in May. The number of unemployed people rose by 24,000 compared to expectations for a drop of 15,000.
At the same time, a report released by Destatis showed that German import prices fell a steeper than expected 2.4 percent year-over-year in April, while export prices declined 0.8 percent. Excluding petroleum products, import prices were down 2.6 percent.
French statistical office INSEE said French consumer spending fell 0.3 percent month-over-month in April, as spending on energy declined. Economists expected a 0.5 percent increase in consumer spending.
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs reported that Swiss first quarter GDP growth was slightly softer than expected at 0.5 percent |
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| | Asian Markets | | | | USDCAD | USDEUR | USDGBP | USDJPY |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | Most of the major Asian markets advanced, tracking the gains on Wall Street overnight. Japanese stocks overcame some jitters in the morning session before finishing higher, while the South Korean market gained close to a percent.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Index moved back and forth across the unchanged line in the morning session before moving decisively higher in early afternoon trading. Thereafter, the index hovered in positive territory before closing up 34.43 points or 0.24 percent at 14,671.
Construction stocks rallied strongly. Financial and export stocks also gained ground, while real estate and resource stocks came under selling pressure.
Australia's All Ordinaries hovered in positive territory throughout the session before ending 15.90 points or 0.29 percent higher at 5,507. Most sectors advanced, with the exception of consumer staple and real estate stocks.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended at 23,080, up 135.73 points or 0.59 percent, and China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 15.66 points or 0.77 percent before closing at 2,050.
On the economic front, a report released by Westpac and the Melbourne Institute showed that their leading index for Australia eased 0.5 percent to 98 in April.
The value of construction work completed in Australia rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent sequentially in the first quarter of 2014, according to a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The growth compared to forecasts for a decline of 0.5 percent.
A separate report released by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics showed that profits earned by Chinese industrial firms rose 9.6 percent year-over-year in April following a 10.7 percent increase in March. |
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| | Currency and Commodities Markets | | Crude oil futures are edging down $0.18 to $103.93 a barrel after dipping $0.24 to $104.11 a barrel on Tuesday. Gold futures are slipping $0.10 to $1,265.40 an ounce. In the previous session, gold tumbled $26.20 to $1,265.50 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 101.71 yen compared to the 101.98 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.3620 compared to yesterday’s $1.3635. |
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