U.S. Stock Futures Move Higher In Step With Gold
Wall Street on Tuesday looked set to rebound from the worst drop in five months as U.S. stock futures climbed, taking a cue from gold prices, which were also climbing back from the biggest decline in 30 years.
Investors were gearing up for earnings from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and consumer prices data as well.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 72 points, or 0.5%, to 14,584, while those for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 8.70 points, or 0.6%, to 1,552.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 21 points, or 0.8%, to 2,804.50.
“I think it’s a combination of a number of factors, including the stabilization in the commodities space and the fact that the U.S. bombings, which saw U.S. equities hammered, didn’t compound into a much worse situation,” said Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG in emailed comments.
“At the close of U.S. trade it seems panic was setting into investors’ minds and some of this might just have calmed,” said Shamu.
Asia markets also pulled off lows.
A day earlier, sentiment soured on Wall Street, as investors got swept up by sharp losses for commodities and economic data that showed a drop in a gauge of U.S. home builders’ confidence, and a slowdown for China growth. In addition, news of a deadly explosion at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in the afternoon on Monday also helped drain confidence.
The Dow industrials fell 265.86 points, or 1.8%, to 14,599.20, while May gold finished the day with a loss of more than $140, its worst one-day performance since the early 1980s.
However, gold prices appeared to be reclaiming a small piece of that rout on Tuesday, with futures up $16.90, or 1.2%, to $1,377.50 an ounce. Other precious and base metals were also higher, though oil prices continued to fall ahead of key supply data.
Investors will have their hands full with economic data and earnings. Ahead of the opening bell, Goldman Sachs will report, with forecasts calling for earnings per share of $3.90 on revenue of $9.66 billion.
U.S. Bancorp , Blackrock Inc. , Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola Co. are among the other names reporting.
Data for Tuesday includes consumer price index data at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and housing starts for March will be released at the same time. The Fed will release March industrial production at 9:15 a.m.
There will also be a wave of Fed speakers on Tuesday, including New York Fed President William Dudley, who will be speaking from Staten Island at 8 a.m. Eastern.
Marketwatch
