Traders also digest euro-zone GDP, U.K. inflation reports
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Stock futures pointed to a flat opening for Wall Street on Tuesday after data showed increases in Chinese and U.K. inflation and as investors awaited reports on U.S. retail sales and manufacturing activity in the New York area.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJH11 12,218, -6.00, -0.05%) gained 3 points to 12,227 and S&P 500 futures (SPH11 1,327, -1.10, -0.08%) were nearly unchanged at 1,327.60.
Nasdaq 100 futures (NDH11 2,380, -1.50, -0.06%) were also flat at 2,382.50.
The economic calendar is very busy on Tuesday. Data on January retail sales and the Empire State manufacturing survey for February will be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.
After the market opens, at 10 a.m. Eastern, business inventories for December and the NAHB housing market index for February are due.
In Asia overnight, stock markets ended mixed after data showed that Chinese consumer inflation rose 4.9% in January from a year earlier which was below forecasts for a 5.4% rise.
And in the U.K. annual consumer price inflation increased to 4% in January from 3.7% in December.
“The markets are for the moment taking it [the inflation data] in stride,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners in New York.
“Short-term inflation is actually positive for equities since interest rates in Europe and here in the U.S. are not going up,” he said. “With rates being so low, top-line inflation lures money into the equity markets.”
The inflation data buoyed gold, which is seen as a hedge against inflation. Gold futures rose $8.10 to $1,373.20 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex.
In other economic news, gross domestic product in the euro zone expanded by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to the preceding three months, Eurostat reported Tuesday.
Separately, Germany’s ZEW indicator of economic sentiment edged higher in February, suggesting market participants are still confident about the recovery in Europe’s biggest economy.
The British pound rose 0.6% to $1.6130, resuming its rise after briefly paring gains in the wake of the U.K. inflation data.
The dollar index (DXY 78.49, -0.12, -0.15%) , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, dropped 0.3% to 78.360.
On the corporate front, Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q 7.42, +0.00, +0.01%) said it swung to a fourth-quarter loss from a profit in the year-earlier period.
Sirius XM Radio Inc. (SIRI 1.73, -0.10, -5.46%) is also scheduled to report quarterly results.
In premarket trading, shares of Barclays PLC (BCS 21.00, +1.04, +5.21%) (UK:BARC 324.35, +13.60, +4.38%) rallied more than 5% after the banking giant reported earnings above market expectations.
