Futures Point to a Higher Start

Stock index futures are pointing to a higher start for the U.S. equity market in trading today as investors await some key economic data and earnings.

Ahead of the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were trading 46 points higher at 11,490, the S&P 500 futures were trading 7 points higher at 1,214, and the Nasdaq 100 futures were trading 10 points higher.

On Wednesday, all three major indexes had fallen sharply after Federal Reserve provided a grim assessment of the U.S. economy in its beige book.

Investors are now awaiting fresh economic data to asses the state of the U.S. economy. The economic data scheduled for release today includes initial jobless claims for the week ended October 15. Economists expect jobless claims to fall to 400,000 in the latest week. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors will release existing home sales data for the month of September. Investors will be also watching a report on business activity in the Philadelphia region for the month of October as well as the Conference Board’s report on leading indicators for September.

European markets were mostly lower in trading today as European leaders continued to debate on how to contain the euro zone debt crisis. Reports suggest that France and Germany, the two largest euro zone economies, are still divided on how big the private sector’s contribution to Greece’s second rescue package should be.

As European leaders remain divided, investors have been cautious today, pushing the FTSE 100 Index in London down 0.7% in intra-day trading. Asian markers also ended mostly lower today on worries about the euro zone.

On the corporate front, investors will continue to focus on the earnings season. Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ: RVBD), Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) and eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) shares are expected to remain in focus in trading today.

Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.