Import prices and Empire State index among data ahead
U.S. stock futures rose on Wednesday, pointing to a potential rebound after sharp losses on Wall Street as a mild inflation reading gave way to continued concerns over global growth.
Investors will be waiting on fresh data from the U.S., while a batch of updates from China shows that country’s own pandemic struggles.
How are stock futures trading?
On Tuesday, the Dow industrials DJIA, -0.84% dropped 292.06 points, or 0.8%, to finish at 34,577.57, the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.57% fell 25.68 points, or 0.6%, to 4,443.05 and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.45% fell 67.82 points, or 0.5%, to 15,037.76.
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What’s driving the market?
Investors remain worried that fallout from the pandemic will string out for global economies, especially as the delta variant has fueled surging cases in the U.S. and elsewhere. Markets have been trying to regroup after a string of losses that were briefly halted on Monday.
“I suspect the market is likely to bounce around as it tries to stabilize. From a near term prospective the market is somewhat oversold, therefore we could get a bounce. However the cautious attitude will likely prevail since the decline has been accompanied by low volume,” Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities, said in emailed comments.
More data is ahead for Wednesday, starting with August import prices and the New York state Empire factory index for September, both due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time., and industrial production and capacity utilization for August due at 9:15 a.m. Eastern.
The bounce for futures came despite a batch of downbeat data from China, where August retail sales grew a disappointing 2.5% from a year earlier, from 8.5% growth in July. Industrial output in August and fixed-asset investment also fell short of expectations.
Which companies are in focus?
How are other assets trading?