RTRS: Housing starts, Deere to lift Wall Street at open
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street appeared poised for a higher open on Wednesday, boosted by strong results from farm equipment maker Deere & Co, and data showing housing starts rebounded more strongly than expected.
Corporate earnings continue to pour in, as Deere & Co (DE.N), surged 7.4 percent to $57.78 in premarket trade after posting first-quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations on cost cuts and strength at its in-house finance arm.
"Evaluating the whole season, the companies that have reported so far, about two-thirds have beaten on revenues about three-quarters have beaten on earnings, so the earnings season has been terrific," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist, at Federated Investors, in New York.
"Those issues, the most recent of which is Greece, are starting to dissipate and maybe this nascent improvement in share prices we've seen the past couple of days has legs."
Data showed U.S. housing starts rose 2.8 percent to their highest level in six months in January, while permits fell slightly les than forecast, a government report showed.
Industrial output for January, due at 9:15 a.m. EST is expected to show an increase of 0.7 percent, according to Reuters forecasts.
Later in the session, the market gets minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting, which could include more detail on the rate-setting committee's expectations for ending its ultra-loose monetary policy.
The report could show whether Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig's dissent from the central bank's vow to keep rates low for an "extended period" met any sympathy among his peers.
S&P 500 futures gained 5.5 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 34 points and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 9 points.
Devon Energy (DVN.N) added 2.5 percent to $70.80 in premarket trade after the company posted a fourth-quarter profit versus a year-earlier loss and said it grew its oil and gas reserves by 20 percent last year.
Also on tap will be earnings from Chesapeake Energy (CHK.N) as well as technology bellwether Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N) after the close.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)
