LONDON — Stock index futures at 7am ET indicate that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) may open up by 0.43% morning, while the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) may open up by 0.42%, after new data suggested that China’s economy has returned to growth. CNN’s Fear & Greed Index is expected to open in the greed zone at 61, today, after closing at 64 yesterday.
European markets made gains this morning, helped by news that China’s factory output reached a seven-month high in September. In London, miners and financial stocks were amongst the biggest risers, while in Germany, car manufacturer Daimler AG was the top gainer, up by 3% after beating quarterly earnings forecasts. There was also renewed hope that Spain’s economy may be beginning to turnaround, after figures published this morning showed that the country’s unemployment rate fell from 26.26% to 25.98% during the third quarter, supporting yesterday’s estimate from Spain’s central bank that the economy may have expanded during the key summer tourist season. At 7am ET, the FTSE 100 was up 0.53%, the DAX was up 0.72%, and the CAC 40 was up 0.34%.
Today’s economic calendar is fairly busy, but the focus is likely to be jobs. The latest weekly jobless claims figures are due to be published at 8.30am ET, and consensus forecasts suggest that there were 337,000 new claims for unemployment insurance last week, down slightly from 358,000 during the previous week. August’s trade deficit is also due at 8.30am, and is expected to show that the deficit widened to $39.7bn in August, from $39.1bn in July. At 8.58am, October’s Markit Flash PMI is due, while at 10am, August’s job openings report is expected. September’s new home sales report was due today but has now been delayed until April 12.
Earnings season continues today, with quarterly updates from Ford, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Dow Chemical, Xerox Group, Altria Group, Colgate-Palmolive, Hershey Foods, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and a number of other major names due before this morning’s opening bell. Citrix stock may also be actively traded when markets open; the firm’s shares were 4.6% higher in after-hours trading last night, after it said it would buy back up to $500m in shares. Amazon and Microsoft are amongst those due to report after the close tonight.
