By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock market futures pointed to a
higher open for Wall Street on Monday, as a turnaround that began
in the final session of last week got fresh momentum from waning
geopolitical tensions.
Investors were also looking foward to a big week of economic
events and appearances by Federal Reserve officials. Fed Chairwoman
Janet Yellen will give a speech at the annual central bankers'
summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming toward the end of the week.
A home builders' index for August kicks off a busy week of data
on Monday.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJU4) rose 73
points, or 0.4%, to 16,704, while those for the S&P 500 index
(SPU4) added 8.6 points, or 0.4%, to 1,961. Futures for the Nasdaq
100 index (NDU4) gained 17.5 points, or 0.4%, to 4,002.125.
"Wall Street is once again coming up to tackle technical
resistance, but with the momentum built up over the last week,
conversations are likely to turn towards when, not if, it can
tackle the 17,000 level again," said Alastair McCaig, market
analyst at IG, in a note.
Helping out, he said, was the solid bounce off lows seen Friday.
The Dow industrials (DJI) recovered from a triple-digit fall on
news of a clash between Ukraine and Russian military units to
finish the week up 0.7%, while the S&P 500 index (SPX)(SPX)
rose 1.2% on the week. Where Soros and other big investors are
putting their money right now
Foreign ministers from Ukraine and Russia met over the weekend
and agreement was made over a convoy of what Russia says is
humanitarian aid. However, no progress was made toward a cease-fire
in Eastern Ukraine. The news pushed the Europe Stoxx 600 to near
August highs, helping to underpin stock futures. Asian stocks
posted mostly modest gains.
On the economic front, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index
for August will be released at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. The week also
should bring consumer prices, minutes of the latest Federal Open
Market Committee meeting and existing-home sales on Friday.
Fed Chairwoman Yellen is expected to tell the annual Fed
symposium later this week that there's still slack in the job
market, and she is not expected to shift any signal in the
easy-money stance of the Fed, Jan Hatzius, chief economist at
Goldman Sachs, said in an interview with MarketWatch.
Jitters over the timing of the first interest-rate hike from the
Fed has made investors uneasy, and investors may be looking for any
signs of a timeline from the central bank.
Several big-name retailers will line up to report this week,
including Home Depot Inc. (HD) on Tuesday and Target Corp. (TGT) on
Wednesday.
Oil prices(CLU4), meanwhile, fell on news that Iraqi Kurds had
recaptured a large chunk of the biggest dam in the country from
Islamist militants, with help from U.S. air power.
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