Forexpros – U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday, as market sentiment was boosted by a strong start to the U.S. earnings season.
Market participants looked ahead to a raft of U.S. data later in the day, to gauge the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a gain of 0.45%, S&P 500 futures signaled an increase of 0.4%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a rise 0.55%.
U.S. equities had one of their best days in July on Wednesday, as a report showing U.S. housing starts hit their highest level since October 2008 last month eased concerns over the U.S. economic outlook.
Meanwhile, investors mulled over a second day of testimony on the U.S. economy and monetary policy by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday.
Bernanke reiterated that the U.S. central bank was prepared to take further action to support the economic recovery if necessary. However, he failed to indicate whether the Fed will embark on a third round of quantitative easing.
The U.S. was to publish government data on initial jobless claims, as well as reports on existing home sales and manufacturing activity in Philadelphia.
Better-than-expected earnings from corporate bellwethers such as IBM and eBay released after U.S. market closed on Wednesday also boosted appetite for riskier assets.
Global tech giant IBM’s earnings beat analyst forecasts, sending shares up 2.6% in pre-market trade, while eBay said second quarter profit more than doubled, sending its stock up 5.2% ahead of the open.
Shares in Finnish phone maker Nokia surged 11.5% in New York after reporting second quarter sales fell 19% from a year ago to EUR7.5 billion (USD9.2 billion), beating expectations for a decline to EUR7.3 billion.
Sales of its flagship Lumia smartphone totaled 4 million in the March-to-June period.
Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley saw shares add 1.1% ahead of the release of its closely-watched second quarter earnings report due out before the opening bell.
Verizon was also slated to release earnings before Thursday’s opening bell, while Google, Microsoft and Advanced Micro Devices report earnings after markets close.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were broadly higher. The EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.8%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.75%, Germany’s DAX rallied 1.1%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 eased up 0.15%.
Investors were looking ahead to a German vote on approving the country’s part in an aid package for Spanish banks later in the day.
Earlier Thursday, Spain saw demand weaken and borrowing costs rise sharply at an auction of two, five and seven-year government bonds, fuelling fears that the country could be locked out of international credit markets.
In the U.K., official data showed that retail rose less-than-expected in June, inching up 0.1%, below expectations for a 0.6% gain, as wet weather hurt demand for outdoor products.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged 1.65%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.75%.
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