U.S. Futures Edge Higher; Microsoft Buyback, Industrial Production in Focus

© Reuters.

By Peter Nurse

AiVIF.com - U.S. stocks are seen edging higher at the open Wednesday, rebounding after the previous session’s sharp losses, but investors remain anxious about the strength of the economic recovery and future monetary policy.

At 7:05 AM ET (1105 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 15 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures traded 6 points, or 0.1%, higher, while Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 30 points, or 0.2%.

The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped almost 300 points, or 0.8%, on Tuesday, its fifth losing day in six, while the broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.5%.

U.S. consumer prices rose at their slowest pace in six months in August, according to data released Tuesday. This followed on from the economy creating the fewest jobs in seven months last month, prompting fears the delta variant of the coronavirus variant has hit the economic recovery just as the Federal Reserve is considering a reduction to its massive monthly bond purchases.

There is more economic data to study Wednesday, with growth in industrial output expected to have cooled down to 0.4% in August from 0.9% in July, when the numbers are released at 9:15 AM ET (1315 GMT).

In corporate news, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) will be in the spotlight after the software giant announced late Tuesday that it will buy back up to $60 billion in stock as well as raise its quarterly dividend by 11%.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will also be in focus after the world’s largest company introduced the iPhone 13 at its annual product unveiling event on Tuesday, while the casino sector is likely to remain under pressure as the government of Macau seeks to increase regulatory scrutiny over casinos. 

Crude prices strengthened Wednesday, boosted by a larger than expected drawdown of 5.4 million barrels last week, according to the American Petroleum Institute, after Hurricane Ida shut numerous refineries and offshore drilling production. 

Investors now await crude oil supply data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, due later in the day, for confirmation.

By 7:05 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 1.4% higher at $71.44 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 1.2% to $74.50. 

Additionally, gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,804.20/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.2% higher at 1.1829.