Futures Point to Higher Opening

Stock index futures are pointing to a higher opening for Wall Street following reports that central banks are ready to take coordinated action to calm financial markets if the Greek election results spark volatility.

Ahead of the opening the bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are trading 38 points higher at 12,644, the S&P 500 futures are trading 3.3 points higher at 1,329.50, and the Nasdaq 100 futures are trading 7.5 points higher at 2,542.75.

Reports of central banks intervention had sparked a huge rally in Thursday’s trading session, with all three major indexes finishing sharply higher.

Jacques Porta, asset manager at OFI Gestion Privee in Paris, told MarketWatch that it is surprising that markets are rising ahead of the weekend, given that it is so difficult to call the Greek result. Porta said that investors need to be very, very cautious and it is surprising to see the markets like they are today.

The Greek election has kept investors on the edge throughout the week. None of the Greek political parties have called for a euro exit, but the leftist SYRIZA party has said that it will renegotiate the terms of Greece’s bailout with its creditors if it wins the election. This could create uncertainty in the financial markets.

Additionally, rising borrowing costs for Spain and Italy are also a major worry. Spain’s $125 billion bank bailout, which announced last weekend, failed to calm the markets this week, with yields on 10-year Spanish bonds rising to a euro-era high.

The U.S. economic data released this week has also been disappointing and has once again raised the prospects of further monetary easing from the Federal Reserve. Investors are today watching for industrial production data for the month of May and the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for June.

On the corporate front, American International Corp. (NYSE: AIG) could remain in focus today after the insurer said that it has trimmed U.S. government-authorized support in the company by over $152 billion.

European markets are mostly higher in trading today. Earlier, Asian markets also ended mostly higher overnight, with the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong closing 2.26% higher.

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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.