Stock index futures were indicating a mildly higher open Wednesday as more losses for oil futures continued to restore traders' confidence in equities.
S&P 500 futures were adding 2 points to 1387 and were around 1 point above fair value. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 were up 6 points at 1999 and were also about a point over fair value.
Last time out, the broad indices all booked gains amid deflating oil futures, even in the wake of uneven economic and corporate news. Trading volume, though, was thin. In the end, the
Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 69 points to 12,548, and the S&P 500 had risen 9 points to 1385. The
Nasdaq Composite jumped 37 points to 2481.
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As the new day began, oil kept pulling back and, at one point, reached a one-week low of $126.37 a barrel. Recently, futures were losing $1.73 to $127.12. The
United States Oil (USO) exchange-traded fund was down 2%.
Gold futures, meanwhile, were down $16.50 to $891.40. The U.S. dollar firmed by 0.2% against the euro to $1.5669 and added 0.4% against the yen to fetch 104.71.
On the corporate front, after the prior market close
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) said it was offering up to 35 million equity units for $50 apiece in an effort to raise $2 billion.
Elsewhere, a German business paper reported that Sweden's SEB and France-based BNP Paribas and Societe Generale might be interested in trying to acquire
Citigroup's (C) Citibank unit. The banks are also reportedly Deutsche Postbank and
Allianz's (AZ) Dresdner Bank.
Meanwhile, merger discussions between United Airlines operator
UAL (UAUA) and
US Airways (LCC) evidently have fallen apart,
CNBC reported, citing people with direct knowledge of the talks.
On the economic docket, the lone item is the Commerce Department's April report on durable-goods orders, which is due out at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
Treasury prices were little changed. The 10-year note was flat in price to yield 3.92%, and the 30-year bond dipped 1/32 in price, yielding 4.64%.
Markets abroad were mixed. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 sank 1.3% overnight, and the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1%. Europe fared better however, as London's FTSE 100 rose 0.2% and Germany's Xetra Dax jumped 1.1%. The Paris Cac was up 1.4%.
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