U.S. stocks head for moderately higher open ahead of Alcoa report
NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks headed toward a moderately higher open today as Wall Street awaits the earnings season's unofficial kickoff with Alcoa Inc.'s report and minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting.
The report from the aluminum producer, the first of the 30 constituent stocks of the Dow Jones industrial average to report results, could provide investors further insight into how well corporate profits held up during the third quarter. Wall Street expects the company to report a modest rise in profits after the closing bell Tuesday.
As the flow of earnings reports begins in earnest, Wall Street will also devote attention to the Fed's Sept. 18 meeting, when the central bank lowered the target federal funds rate by a larger-than-expected half percentage point.
The Fed's decision to make access to cash cheaper helped dismantle some of the intransigence in the credit markets that developed amid concerns about souring mortgage debt. Wall Street will no doubt be looking for any insights into whether the Fed is likely to cut again when it meets Oct. 30-31 or hold the target rate at 4.75 percent.
Wall Street's attention to the Fed will also likely extend to comments expected from two of the bank's officials. St. Louis Fed President William Poole and San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen are slated to deliver speeches Tuesday.
Dow futures rose 22, or 0.16 percent, to 14,134. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.10, or 0.20 percent, to 1,565.80 and Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 4.25, or 0.19 percent, to 2,184.50.
Bonds were little changed, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note flat at 4.64 percent from late Friday. The Treasury bond market was closed Monday for the Columbus Day holiday. The dollar wax mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude fell 43 cents to $78.59 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.56. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.72 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.14 percent, and France's CAC-40 advanced 0.16 percent.