NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were poised to move higher on Thursday, but key inflationary data due before the opening bell could sour trading, analysts said.
``It looks like a higher opening on both sides of the street,' said Arthur Hogan, the chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. in Boston. ``But this could all change when we get some real important inflation data.'
The numbers, which could show whether there is inflation at the wholesale level, is expected for release an hour before the market opens.
The Producer Price Index, due for release at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT), is expected to show an increase of 0.5 percent in February, [US Feb PPI rose 1.0 pct] according to economists polled by Reuters. In January, the gauge was unchanged from December.
Excluding food and energy components, the PPI is expected to rise 0.2 percent, compared with the 0.2 percent decline in the prior month.
Hogan said the market is expecting the main PPI number to be strong due to high oil and gas prices. ``But we've convinced ourselves that the core rate is what the Fed looks at, and that should be benign,' he said.
The Federal Reserve's policy-setting committee will meet on Tuesday to decide whether to increase interest rates again in order to slow the economy's growth to a more moderate, sustainable level.
Futures indices showed relative confidence heading into the economic news. The Standard & Poor's 500 futures index for June was up 4.3 points at 1,417 while the Nasdaq futures index for June was 57.5 points higher at 4,220.
Also before the opening bell, February housing starts are expected to show a decline to 1.687 million from the 1.775 million rate in January.
The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond was up 4/32 with a yield of 6.06 percent while the 10-year note was unchanged with a yield of 6.28 percent. At 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) the Treasury is scheduled to buy back $1 billion of long-dated government debt, an event that should help guide trading for the session.
In company news, Phillips Petroleum Co. (NYSE:P - news) will become Alaska's second-biggest oil producer after agreeing Wednesday to buy Atlantic Richfield Co.'s (NYSE:ARC - news) assets there for $7 billion. The deal helps clear the way for the merger between BP Amoco Plc (NYSE:BPA - news) (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BPA.L) and Arco.
Palm Inc. (NasdaqNM:PALM - news) said on Thursday it hoped to link up with major Japanese firms as it expands in that country.
Nestle SA's Nestle USA, H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE:HNZ - news), Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG - news), Bestfoods (NYSE:BFO - news) and Philip Morris Cos. Inc.'s (NYSE:MO - news) Kraft FoodsMore are among more than 50 major consumer-products companies expected to announce they will create a global industry-wide Internet marketplace, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Sotheby's Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BID - news) and Christie's are facing their worst shortage of art objects for sale in nearly a decade, the Wall Street Journal reported.
On Wednesday, Wall Street rode a rollercoaster recovery for the Dow at the expense of the high-flying Nasdaq.
The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - news) jumped 320.17 points in heavy volume, or 3.26 percent, to 10,131.41, its biggest one-day point gain in 17 months.
The Nasdaq composite index (^IXIC - news), meanwhile, lost ground for its third straight session, off 123.95 points, or 2.63 percent, at 4,582.68. The index has dropped 465 points in three days, putting the index 9.23 percent off its closing high of 5,048.62 from Friday.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - news) was up 32.99 points, or 2.43 percent, to 1,392.14.
n morning trading, the dollar was at 0.96 against the euro and at 105.3 against the yen. |
