Wall Street heads to higher open ahead of durable goods report
NEW YORK -- Wall Street tipped toward a higher open today as another report of sluggish economic activity raised hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again.
The Commerce Department said demand for durable goods fell in August, indicating that the recent credit crisis might have hurt U.S. companies. Orders for durable goods dropped by 4.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted $219.53 billion.
The report follows data released Tuesday that showed existing home sales stalled in August, and consumer confidence in September remains a worry. Investors are hoping the data will persuade the Fed to drop rates again.
Policymakers decided last week to lower rates by a half-point, the first cut in four years. It triggered a rally on Wall Street as stocks bounced from their lows of the year.
General Motors Corp. was poised to move higher after the United Auto Workers announced an agreement to end a two-day strike. The agreement should lead to production at GM's plants on Wednesday, though it still needs to be ratified by workers.
Dow Jones industrial average futures expiring in December rose 57, or 0.41 percent, to 13,925. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 6.90, or 0.45 percent, to 1,535.80, and Nasdaq 100 Index futures rose 13.50, or 0.64 percent, to 2,111.00.
In corporate news, Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. and Borse Dubai upped their offer to acquire Nordic exchange operator OMX to 265 kronor a share from 230 kronor. The two acquiring stock exchanges also said they secured 47.6 percent stake in OMX, which the latest offer values at $4.9 billion.
Red Hat Inc. shares are expected to rise after the maker of open-source software reported second-quarter profit rose 59 percent and revenue came in ahead of Wall Street projections.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. will reported quarter results during the session, where analysts polled by Thomson Financial project earnings of 52 cents per share.
Crude oil prices strengthened for the first time this week, with a barrel of light sweet crude picking up 64 cents to $80.17 in premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Traders are betting that U.S. inventory data will show further falls in crude oil stockpiles.
In European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.84 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.38 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.74 percent.
In Asia earlier, Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.21 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.46 percent.