Housing Data Boost U.S. Stock Futures

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:47:53 GMT

By Jonathan Cheng And Tomi Kilgore U.S. stock futures pushed higher following a solid reading on the U.S. housing sector, though concerns about the outlook for Greece kept the early gains relatively modest.Less than an hour before the opening bell, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 59 points, or 0.5%, to 12664. Standard & Poor's 500-stock index futures gained eight points, or 0.6%, to 1336 and Nasdaq 100 futures added 15 points, or 0.6%, to 2593.Prior to the housing data, Dow futures rose 56 points, S&P 500 futures gained seven points and Nasdaq futures added 14 points. Changes in stock futures don't always accurately predict stock moves after the opening bell.The moves came after data showed U.S. home building expanding in April. Home construction increased 2.6% from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000, better than estimates for 685,000. However, the number of new housing permits, an indication of future construction, fell by 7.0% to annualized level of 715,000, lower than expectations for 730,000.At 9:15 a.m., data is expected to show industrial production rose 0.6% in April while capacity utilization increased to 79%. Separately, the minutes of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy setting committee meeting in April will be released at 2 p.m.The Dow is looking to bounce back after a bruising run that has seen the blue-chip index fall for nine days in the past 10. On Tuesday, the Dow fell 0.5% to a four-month low.On Wednesday, European markets were well off their worst levels but remained mostly lower as concerns about Greece's future in the euro zone escalated following the country's failure to form a new coalition government. The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.1% after falling as much as 1.4% earlier in the session.With Greece in political limbo until new elections next month, the country's future in the euro zone was becoming increasingly uncertain. In a sign of rising anxiety among Greeks, depositors withdrew ?700 million (about $891 million) from local banks on Monday.Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to soothe investor fears by saying in an interview on CNBC that Germany was determined to keep Greece in the euro zone.Asian markets were sharply lower on worries about Greece. The China's Shanghai Composite slid 1.2% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average shed 1.1%.Crude-oil futures gave up 1.2% to below $93 a barrel, while gold futures fell 1.1% to about $1,540 an ounce. The U.S. dollar traded flat against the euro and gained on the yen.Shares of J.C. Penney slumped 15% in premarket trading after the department-store chain reported a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss and revenue that missed estimates, and said it will discontinue its quarterly dividend of 20 cents a share. Target climbed 2% after the discount retailer reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter earnings, and provided a second-quarter earnings outlook that was above current projections. Deere & Co. rose 1.8% after the maker of farm tractors and combines reported fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded forecasts and boosted its full-year net income outlook. Abercrombie & Fitch declined 6.6% after the apparel retailer reported fiscal first-quarter revenue that missed estimates, citing challenging sales trends in Europe, and provided a downbeat sales outlook for the year. Arena Pharmaceuticals slumped 5.6% after the biopharmaceutical company said it is planning a public offering of common stock. OraSure Technologies surged 30% after the company said a U.S. Food and Drug Administration committee recommended approval of the company's in-home HIV test. Write to Tomi Kilgore at tomi.kilgore@dowjones.com ...

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Housing Data Boost U.S. Stock Futures