By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures advanced Tuesday,
with the start of the second half of 2014 kicking off with updates
on automobile sales, manufacturing activity and construction
spending.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJU4) rose 41
points, or 0.2%, to 16,781, while those for the S&P 500 (SPU4)
picked up 4.6 points, or 0.2%, to reach 1,957. Futures for the
Nasdaq 100 (NDU4) were up 11 points, or 0.3%, at 3,851.75.
Shares of General Motors Co. (GM.XX)and Ford Motor Co. (F),
along with other automobile manufacturers may be on the move as the
industry rolls out U.S. sales figures for June throughout the
trading session. Analysts expect, on average, stronger sales than
in the same month in 2013, keeping the industry on track for a more
than 3% sales increase this year to 16.4 million cars.
GM will also be in focus after the company on Monday added about
7.6 million vehicles to its safety recalls in the U.S., covering
model years 1997 through 2014.
Two separate reports on the manufacturing sector are due, with
the first scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. Eastern time. Data
firm Markit will issue the final reading of its U.S. manufacturing
purchasing managers index for June. Its preliminary figure,
reported last week, was 57.5, up from 56.4 in May.
Ahead of the U.S. reports, two separate manufacturing PMIs from
China showed improvement in June, but manufacturing activity in the
euro zone slowed.
At 10 a.m. Eastern time, the Institute for Supply Management's
June manufacturing report is forecast to come in at 55.7%, edging
from 55.4% in May. "Overall, the ISM continues to point to an
expansion in the manufacturing sector, which has been one of the
better performing sectors in the U.S. economy," said Mizuho
strategist Sireen Harajli in a Monday note.
A report on construction spending in May from the Commerce
Department is expected at 10 a.m. Eastern. Outlays for projects are
likely to rise 0.7%, according to economists polled by
MarketWatch.
Shares of Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL)could see action as the maker
of Skippy peanut butter and Spam meat product agreed late Monday to
buy privately held Muscle Milk producer CytoSport Inc. for $450
million.
Meanwhile, Oracle Corp. (ORCL)on Tuesday said it priced $10
billion in notes and plans to use the proceeds from the offering
for general corporate purposes. That may involve stock buybacks,
paying cash dividends, repaying debt and funding future takeovers,
including its pending acquisition of Micros Systems Inc. (MCRS)
Oracle's bond pricing is among the largest corporate-bond deals of
the year, according to a Wall Street Journal calculation.
Also in Silicon Valley news, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ)reached a
settlement in three shareholder lawsuits related to its purchase of
software firm Autonomy in 2011.
In other markets, Japan's Nikkei Average rose 1.1% and Europe's
Stoxx 600 was higher, with BNP Paribas SA gaining after the French
bank agreed to an $8.8 billion settlement with U.S. authorities in
a sanction probe.
U.S. benchmark crude-oil futures (CLQ4)rose 30 cents to $105.69
a barrel and gold futures (GCQ4)climbed $5.30 to $1,327.30 an
ounce.
U.S. stocks on Monday locked in gains for June and the second
quarter as well as semiannual advances. For the first half of 2014,
the S&P 500 (SPX)rose 6.1%, the Dow industrials (DJI)climbed
1.5%, and the Nasdaq (RIXF)gained 5.5%.
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