Search

Overseas Optimism Pushes US Equity Futures Higher. Econ Data on Deck

by devteam August 20th, 2009 | Share

A hefty 4.5% gain in China’s Shanghai stock index led to optimism in European markets today and now, before the open, US equity futures are looking higher too.

Volatility in the Shanghai index has been leading markets all week long, though US markets were able to recover after opening sharply yesterday. All three major US indexes ended the day about 0.68% up, and today those gains are being extended, albeit slightly. The benchmark S&P 500 is up 3 points to the psychological threshold of 1,000.

With the Shanghai index seeing its largest one-day in five months today, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index followed by closing 1.9% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 1.8%. In Europe, the FTSE 100 has been trading 1.3% higher, and Germany’s Dax was recently up 1.2%.

US stocks could quickly change after the Jobless Claims report comes out at 8:30.The  weekly report has been relatively stable in recent weeks with first-time claimants hovering around the 550k each week. This week analysts look for some improvement, and there’s some added importance as it’s the survey week for the monthly employment statistics, which means any trend would likely be repeated in the nonfarm payrolls report (released the first Friday of each month.)

That’s the only news before the opening bell, but half an hour into the session markets are hit with two more bits of data, a broad measure of where the economy is heading, and a regional index tracking business conditions in the Philadelphia region. More details after the jump.

Key Releases Today:

8:30 â€

About the Author

devteam

Steven A Feinberg (@CPAsteve) of Appletree Business Services LLC, is a PASBA member accountant located in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

See all blogs
Share

Comments

Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

Latest Articles

Real Estate Investors Skip Paying Loans While Raising Billions

By John Gittelsohn August 24, 2020, 4:00 AM PDT Some of the largest real estate investors are walking away from Read More...

Late-Stage Delinquencies are Surging

Aug 21 2020, 11:59AM Like the report from Black Knight earlier today, the second quarter National Delinquency Survey from the Read More...

Published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

It was recently published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, which is about as official as you can Read More...