MW: U.S. stock futures point to firmer start with data on tap
By Barbara Kollmeyer & Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks are poised to continue a positive start to a holiday-shortened week when the market opens on Tuesday, with futures firmer and investors expected to focus on a clutch of economic data.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 37 points to 10,342, while those for the S&P 500 were up 4.3 points to 1,112.5 and futures for the Nasdaq 100 were up 10 points to 1,835.50.
Broker upgrades to Intel and Alcoa, pending health-care legislation viewed as favorable for health insurers, and mergers-and-acquisitions activity contributed to a strong rise on Monday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 85 points, the S&P 500 added 12 points and the Nasdaq Composite poured in 26 points.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq finished at its highest level since Sept. 19, 2008, and yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds rose to a four-month high.
Economic data will be in focus on Tuesday, and there's plenty of it for the market to absorb. First up will be a revision to third-quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m., then existing home sales for November along with the FHFA's house prices for October will be released at 10 a.m. All times are Eastern.
Economists polled by MarketWatch expect home sales to rise to 6.28 million from 6.1 million.
Analysts from RDQ Economics said the existing home sales release could be affected by first-time homebuyers looking to take advantage of a tax credit that was due to expire, although the credit has since been extended.
Among stocks in focus, Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO 9.43, +0.42, +4.66%) could be active after saying late Monday it will sell its Jack of All Games distribution business to Synnex Corp for $43.3 million, and lowered its outlook.
Shares of Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL 15.02, +0.22, +1.49%) may also be in focus. It reported core earnings of 32 cents a share, which was higher than the 29 cents a share forecast by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
After the close, Red Hat (RHT 29.63, +0.36, +1.23%) , Micron Technology (MU 9.31, +0.53, +6.04%) and Cintas (CTAS 29.62, +0.08, +0.27%) will report results.
Also on Tuesday, U.K. regulators reversed an earlier preliminary decision and approved a merger between music event vendors Ticketmaster (TKTM 11.76, -0.08, -0.68%) and Live Nation (LYV 8.15, -0.08, -0.97%) . The deal still faces regulatory scrutiny in the U.S.
Moody's joined fellow rating agencies Fitch and Standard & Poor's in downgrading Greece with a negative outlook, though markets took the expected cut in stride, with the euro rising. Commodities-related firms were among the gainers in Europe on Tuesday, helping to bolster those indexes, with technology stocks also gaining.
Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed on Tuesday to keep production quotas unchanged at their meeting in Angola's capital Luanda, according to media reports. The decision was in line with market expectations. Crude oil for February delivery fell 17 cents to $73.55 a barrel.
Traders are also awaiting the latest data on U.S. petroleum inventories.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its report at 4:30 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday. The Energy Information Administration will announce its more closely watched data at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
