Forexpros – U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday, as growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will implement further monetary easing measures supported investor confidence.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a rise of 0.60%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.79% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.58% gain.
Investors eyed a Congressional testimony by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke about the state of the U.S. economy, with hopes fresh stimulus measures will be announced after the central bank’s Vice-Chairman Janet Yellen laid out the case for more easing to bolster a fragile economy as financial turmoil mounts in the euro zone.
Yellen’s comments were echoed by Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, saying his level of concern has risen since the U.S. central bank’s April meeting.
Meanwhile, sentiment also found mild support after Spain’s Treasury successfully sold EUR2.07 billion of bonds, slightly more than the targeted amount, in an auction which met with solid investor demand, but saw borrowing costs rise.
The tech sector was expected to be active after Oracle launched a new suite of cloud-based products on Wednesday to try to catch up with smaller but nimbler vendors, such as Salesforce.com, in the business of hosting and distributing software via the Internet.
Meanwhile, Apple saw shares rise 0.32% in pre-market trade amid reports it is planning to add Baidu’s search engine – China’s biggest Internet search engine – on iPhones in China.
Financial stocks were also likely to be in focus, after Bloomberg reported that, although being crowned best-capitalized Wall Street firm, Morgan Stanley still faces the largest potential downgrade from Moody’s Investors Service.
Morgan Stanley also continues to face doubts after JPMorgan announced a USD2 billion loss from derivatives trading.
In the energy sector, Chesapeake shares dropped 0.60% in early trading, after a federal judge said it will not have to delay its scheduled annual meeting on Friday to allow shareholders more time to investigate the financial dealings of the natural gas company’s embattled chief executive.
Elsewhere, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters was reportedly in talks with pharmaceutical companies about developing drinks for its Keurig brewers that it hopes could aid the health of consumers and company margins.
Also in company news, Goodyear Tire & Rubber acquired 100% ownership of its Nippon Giant Tire unit in Japan for an undisclosed amount.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.41%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.42%, Germany’s DAX climbed 0.43%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 rallied 0.66%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.85%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1.24%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release government data on initial unemployment claims, while Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was to appear before the Joint Economic Committee, in Washington.
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