Stock Futures Point to a Higher Open on Wall Street
By Sreeja VN
U.S. stock index futures point to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, ahead of the publication of the House Price Index and corporate earnings statements from tech majors Apple, AT&T and Electronic Arts.
Futures on the Dow Jones industrial average(^DJI) were up 0.3 percent, while futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GSPC) were up 0.1 percent and those on the Nasdaq 100 index were up 0.3 percent.
Investors will also be turning their attention to the publication of the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index at 9 a.m. Eastern time. The index provides the monthly average change in house prices across the country or a certain area, using data provided by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The index is expected to nudge up to 0.8 percent in May, from 0.7 percent recorded in the previous month.
In addition, a number of major companies, including United Parcel Service (UPS), Altria Group (MO), Lockheed Martin (LMT), MGIC Investment (MTG), Wendy's (WEN) will announce quarterly earnings before market hours. Altera (ALTR) and Broadcom (BRCM), along with Apple (AAPL), AT&T (T) and Electronic Arts (EA), will announce their earnings after markets close.
European markets were trading flat after climbing higher earlier Tuesday, as Asian markets rallied following recent reports from China indicating Beijing might take measures to support the country's economic growth, and the Japanese government upgraded its outlook of the country's economy for a third consecutive month.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.1 percent, London's FTSE 100 was flat, Germany's DAX-30 was up 0.1 percent and France's CAC-40 was trading up 0.05 percent.
In Asia, Chinese stocks led a rally in the region's markets, with the Shanghai Composite index surging 2 percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index soared 2.3 percent. Shares jumped after several local media reported that Premier Li Keqiang, at a cabinet meeting last week, gave an assurance that the government won't allow China's economic growth to fall below 7 percent.
Japan's Nikkei ended up 0.8 percent after the government said that the recovery in the world's third-largest economy had turned self-sustaining, MarketWatch reported. South Korea's KOSPI Composite index rallied 1.3 percent, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3 percent and India's BSE Sensex was trading up 0.8 percent in late-afternoon trade.
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