- 21Oct
NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday on strong corporate earnings, including Caterpillar, a weaker U.S. dollar and reassuring data from China.
China's growth ebbed in the third quarter while inflation edged a touch higher, showing the world's No. 2 economy is still an engine for global growth and suggesting a recent interest rate rise may be enough for now. For details see
"The weaker dollar is again helping to propel equity interest, and the market has recaptured the recent enthusiasm as the China trade is back on track," said Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lek Securities in New York.
"Investors are starting to recognize a potential missed opportunity as other asset classes are yielding paltry returns, so the risk-reward profile makes sense."
Earnings remain in the spotlight, with Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and raising its full-year revenue forecast. Shares of the heavy equipment maker jumped 1.4 percent from its adjusted closing price at $81 in premarket trading. [ID:nN18273532]
S&P 500 futures SPc1 rose 5.8 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures DJc1 gained 69 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures NDc1 added 15.75 points.
The U.S. dollar fell against the euro on belief the interest rate differential between the two currencies will continue to widen, while expectations of more money printing from the Federal Reserve also kept the greenback under pressure against the yen.
The 30-day correlation between the S&P 500 and the dollar index .DXY held below -0.9 for a seventh day running.
In premarket trading, online auctioneer eBay Inc (EBAY.O) rose 7.2 percent at $27.50, and Netflix Inc (NFLX.O), the DVD rental and movie streaming service, advanced 13 percent at $173. Both reported upbeat quarterly results late Wednesday.
Investors will also eye weekly first-time jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a total of 455,000 new filings compared with 462,000 in the prior week.
At 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) both the Index of Leading Economic Indicators for September and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's October business index are due.
Wall Street bounced back Wednesday as a fall in the dollar spurred buying in industrial and commodity-linked shares, while another batch of strong corporate earnings added to gains.
