PMI surveys from China to the U.K. show strong gains
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures welcomed December with strong gains, as robust manufacturing data from China to the U.K. Wednesday cheered investors and offset worries about the euro-zone debt crisis.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJZ10 11,089, +93.00, +0.85%) rose 93 points to 11,089 and S&P 500 futures (SPZ10 1,191, +11.30, +0.96%) advanced 10.70 points to 1,190.30.
The blue-chip Dow index (DJIA 11,006, -46.47, -0.42%) fell 0.4% on Tuesday. For November, the index posted a loss of 1%.
Asian and European stocks rose on Wednesday, buoyed by a string of strong economic data.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index (ST:STOXX600 264.40, +2.57, +0.98%) gained 1% in intraday trading.
Wednesday’s gains come “after a few days of being obsessed with the all-consuming euro-zone crisis,” said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin in London.
“There is a global economy that is still delivering some good news flow and this morning we had it,” he said. “Despite worries about the euro zone, business sentiment is still pretty buoyant. That is partly why the markets are performing the way they are.”
In China, two separate gauges of manufacturing activity posted increases in November.
In Great Britain, manufacturing activity accelerated sharply in November, sending the Markit/CIPS purchasing managers index for the sector to its highest level since September 1994.
And in Germany, data showed that retail sales increased 2.3% in October from the previous month, exceeding market expectations.
“We’re getting a very consistent message from these PMIs, whether it’s the U.K., Europe, America or Asia,” Lenhoff said.
On Tuesday, the Chicago purchasing managers index advanced to 62.5 in November from 60.6 in October, beating expectations.
The U.S. economic calendar is very busy on Wednesday. The ADP employment survey for November will be released around 8:15 a.m. Eastern time, to be followed by third-quarter productivity at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
The spotlight will be on the ISM manufacturing data for November, due at 10 a.m. Eastern.
The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book is due at 2 p.m. Eastern.
On the corporate front, shares of State Street Corp. (STT 43.20, -0.50, -1.14%) may be in focus. The firm said late Tuesday it would lay off 1,400 employees, or about 5% of its workforce.
Commodity prices gained, while the dollar declined. The dollar index (DXY 80.78, -0.41, -0.51%) , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, dropped 0.5% to 80.809.
The euro gained 0.8% to $1.3098, recouping some of its recent heavy losses.
Oil futures rose $1.28 to $85.39 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
