<font color=BLUE>MARKET SNAPSHOT-- Shares may eke out gains
Key economic data due out
By Julie Rannazzisi, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 7:49 AM ET Sep 14, 2000 NewsWatch
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NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - U.S. shares are looking to head north Thursday, with strength developing in the tech sector in early action.
December S&P 500 futures rose 3.00 points, or 0.2 percent, and were trading approximately 2.50 points above fair value, according to HL Camp & Co. Nasdaq futures, meanwhile, climbed 40.00 points, or 1.1 percent.
Two closely-watched economic indicators will be out Thursday morning: the producer price index, expected to rise 0.2 percent both overall and at the core -- which excludes the volatile food and energy components -- and the August retail sales will be out, seen rising 0.4 percent. Economic Preview, economic calendar and forecasts and historical economic data.
Recent numbers have supported the accepted notion that the U.S. economy is heading for a soft landing -- with less torrid, more sustainable growth that will keep inflationary pressure under wraps. The soft landing scenario is the best one for stocks and bonds. One cloud on the horizon, however, is the swelling price of oil, which may seep into the core rate of inflation and pressure the Fed to hike rates down the road.
In the currency sector, dollar/yen (C_JPY: news, msgs) eked out a 0.1 percent gain to 107.06 while euro/dollar (C_EUR: news, msgs) rallied 1.1 percent to 0.8692.
Julie Rannazzisi is markets editor for CBS.MarketWatch.com. |
