Forexpros – U.S. stock futures edged higher on Tuesday, but remained under pressure amid sustained concerns over the perspective for global economic growth while investors awaited the start of earnings season later in the day.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.15%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.15% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.30% gain.
Market sentiment came under pressure after official data showed earlier that China posted a trade surplus of USD5.35 billion last month, as imports grew just 5.3% after increasing by 39.6% in February.
Meanwhile, weaker-than-expected nonfarm employment data from the U.S. on Friday revived expectations that the Federal Reserve may conduct a fresh round of quantitative easing and added to uncertainty over the global economic recovery.
Government data showed that the U.S. economy added just 120,000 jobs in March, the lowest number since December and well below expectations for a 203,000 increase.
At a conference earlier in the day, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. economy “is still far from having fully recovered” from the financial crisis.
The Internet sector was expected to be active after AOL said it would sell more than 800 of its patents and related applications to Microsoft, and grant Microsoft a non-exclusive license to patents it retains for slightly over USD1 billion in cash.
AOL shares rose 0.38% in after hour trade, while Microsoft added 0.16%.
Financial stocks were also slated to be in focus following a broad decline in European markets, as Citigroup saw shares fall 0.18% and Goldman Sachs declined 0.19% in pre-market trade.
Sony was also seen lower as the company posted a record USD6.4 billion loss after taking a charge to write down deferred tax assets in the U.S., sending shares down 6.37% in pre-market trade.
In the energy sector, First Quantum Minerals was likely to move as it plans to more than triple copper production within five years as it starts up mines in Peru, Finland and Zambia.
Chesapeake Energy jumped 1.35% in after hour trade after the second-largest U.S. natural-gas producer announced three separate deals for its oil and gas assets, raising about USD2.6 billion to help fund development and cut debt after slumping gas prices eroded cash flow.
Other stocks in focus included bellwethers Google and JP Morgan, scheduled to report results later in the week. Alcoa was to be the first Dow component to report results, with earnings expected after Tuesday’s closing bell.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply lower. The EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 1.42%, France’s CAC 40 plummeted 1.55%, Germany’s DAX declined 1.05%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 retreated 1.02%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slumped 0.9%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dipped 0.15%.
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