After a six session losing streak, stock futures are rebounding this morning on jobless claims numbers and the lack of bad headlines out of Europe. Spain’s bond pressure eased a day after they nationalized their fourth-largest lender. The country is expected to unveil a plan today that would requirement banks to shore up their capital reserves to protect against their own housing collapse.
Dow futures are currently up 43 points. Nasdaq and S&P futures are following the index higher, both up 10 and 9 points respectively.
The big economic data point for US markets today is jobless claims. Printing at 367k it is mostly in line with expectations. Last week’s number was revised up to 368k, so that accounts for the 1k drop in claims. The 4 week rolling average dropped 5k to 379k.
In Europe, the markets are stabilizing after a week of turbulent trading. Most analysts think Greece is heading for a fresh round of elections in June, as none of the parties can find enough seats to form a ruling coalition. This puts the next bailout payment in jeopardy as EU countries may be unwilling to continue their support to a country without a functioning national government.
In commodities oil prices are rebounding on the macro data. After slipping below the $00 per barrel mark, Nymex crude futures are up 33 cents to $97.14. [Read more...]
