Before the Bell: Futures Point to Fourth Up Session

Posted Dec 23rd 2009 8:20AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Before the Bell, International Markets, Ford Motor (F), Market Matters, Cintas Corp (CTAS), Research in Motion (RIMM), Economic Data

U.S. stock futures advanced Wednesday morning, as investors await more key economic data today, including reports on income and home sales. Global markets, too, were strong ahead of the data as Wall Street prepares for the fourth consecutive up session. However, with light volumes, as they are expected to be today, volatility may be the issue.

On Tuesday, stocks rallied following a positive report on the housing and the encouraging final revision of third-quarter GDP. The Dow and S&P 500 nearly reached new 14-months highs. The positive sentiment on the economy is likely to continue today as the data is released.

Economic reports due today include:

Figures on November personal income and spending will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect income to have risen 0.5%, while spending is expected to have remained flat.
Next, the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumer Sentiment index for December is due, with expectations for a reading of 73.8, up slightly from the November reading.
New home sales figures for November are next at 10:00 a.m., with economists expecting the annual sales rate to rise to 438,000 from 430,000 a month earlier, according to Briefing.com. The rise would be the third consecutive monthly increase.

Overseas, Asian markets finished Wednesday's trading session on a strong note, with European markets following suit. Mounting optimism about the speed of the U.S. economic recovery fueled markets. However, The People's Bank of China on Wednesday said the economic recovery is still insufficient and that correcting structural problems for the nation's growth is urgent.

On the job front, there also may be cause for optimism. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he believes it's reasonable to expect "positive job growth" by spring and that people should have confidence about an improving economic climate.

Among stocks in the news are Ford Motor Co. (F), which is close to selling Volvo to Geely; Cintas (CTAS), which disappointed investors when reporting results, Micron Technology Inc (MU), which surprised on the upside when it posted its first quarterly profit in nearly three years; and Research in Motion Ltd (RIMM) whose experiencing outage in its BlackBerry service.

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