U.S. stock futures turned positive recently, despite being lower earlier this morning. With the recent advances on Wall Street the past two sessions, some investors feel it may be prudent to be more cautious and wait for some more data to be released before rejoining the activity. U.S. stocks rallied on Monday after J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) increased its offer for Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) and after sales of existing homes rose for the first time in seven months, giving investors hope both the credit and the housing crisis may have witnessed a bottom. With such positive sentiment, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 187 points, or 1.5%, the S&P 500 also rose 1.5%, or 20 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 68 points, or just over 3%.
Today, two main economic releases are due. The S&P/Case-Shiller index on home prices in January is due before the market open and March consumer confidence is due out at 10 a.m. EDT. Judging from yesterday's existing home sales report, housing prices haven't recovered yet and will likely show yet another decline. Similarly, consumer confidence is expected to be lower than the previous month as well, as consumers haven't regained confidence in the economy.
Overseas, Asian and European markets surged Tuesday. Many markets were closed for the Easter holiday Monday, and investors returned today after witnessing U.S. stock markets rally Monday. Encouraged by the same news for the U.S. economy, a buying spree was evident. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 6.4%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 3.7% and Japan's Nikkei 225 index climbed 2.2%. In Europe, with markets mostly returning from a four-day weekend, the U.K's FTSE 100 rose 3.6%, Germany's DAX gained 3.3% and France's CAC 40 was also up 3.6%.
Meanwhile, the dollar resumed its downward trend, falling the most against the euro in two weeks, on speculation U.S. consumer confidence dropped to a five-year low and the housing slump deepened. The dollar also dropped from a one-week high against the yen.
However, following the recent advances in the U.S. dollar, oil prices fell to hover above $100 a barrel Tuesday.
In deal news, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) has agreed to sell Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM) for $2.65 billion, according to an Indian television report. Ford shares are resuming yesterday's 6%, climbing another 1.3% in premarket trading.
Staying in deal news, the Justice Department has finally approved the merger between satellite radio companies Sirius (NASDAQ: SIRI) and XM (NASDAQ: XMSR) late Monday. The proposed $5 billion buyout of XM by Sirius now needs to be approved by the FCC, which originally prohibited the merger in 1997 when it first granted satellite radio operating licenses. SIRI shares are climbing 1.6% in premarket trading on top of Monday 8.6% rally, and XMSR shares last traded 1.5% higher in after-hours trading, after closing up 15.5% Monday.
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