Futures Up on Private Sector Jobs Growth
NEW YORK (
) -- U.S. stock futures followed global stocks higher Wednesday on encouraging global manufacturing data and on speculation the
European Central Bank
would enact measures to contain the eurozone debt crisis when policymakers meet Thursday.
The U.S. private sector added 93,000 jobs in November, according to Automatic Data Processing's employment report Wednesday. The increase exceeded Wall Street's expectations for job growth of 58,000. ADP also upwardly revised October's job gains to 82,000 from 43,000 previously.
Futures for the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
were up by 124 points, or 124 points above fair value, at 11,120. Futures for the
S&P 500
were 15 points higher, or 15 points above fair value, at 1194, and
Nasdaq
futures were ahead by 25 points, or 25 points above fair value.
Stocks finished Tuesday's session in the red as markets failed to shake off eurozone contagion concerns despite encouraging U.S. economic data.
On Wednesday,
global markets jumped as two Chinese manufacturing reports showed strong growth in November and manufacturing surveys for Britain and the eurozone showed that the recovery remains intact. The FTSE in London was up by 1.7% and the DAX in Frankfurt was ahead by 2.1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.1% and Japan's Nikkei gained 0.5%.
The euro gained strength against the dollar, rising to $1.3109 from $1.2981 previously, despite news that
Standard & Poor's said it would put Portugal's rating on review for a potential downgrade. Better-than-expected demand for Portugal's €500 million euro auction of one-year Treasury bills helped ease some jitters that the country wouldn't require financial aid.
The private sector added 93,000 jobs in November, according to Automatic Data Processing's employment report. The increase exceeded Wall Street's expectations for job growth of 58,000. ADP also upwardly revised October's job gains to 82,000 from 43,000 previously.
The Labor Department upwardly revised third-quarter productivity to 2.3%, from its previous read of 1.9%, which was nearly in line with market expectations for an upward revision to 2.4%, That compares with a decline of 1.8% in the second quarter. Unit labor costs were downwardly revised to a dip of 0.1%, compared with the 0.5% decline that economists had been expecting, according to Briefing.com. The Labor Department initially reported a 0.1% drop in third-quarter unit labor costs after growth of 1.3% in the second quarter.
The Institute for Supply Management will issue its November report on manufacturing activity at 10 a.m. The ISM index is slated to fall to 56.5, from October's reading of 56.9.
Also at 10 a.m., the Commerce Department will deliver October construction spending data. Wall Street anticipates a decline of 0.5%, after a 0.5% rise in September.
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The afternoon session brings November vehicle sales and the
Federal Reserve's
Beige Book at 2 p.m. The report is a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions across the Fed's 12 districts and will be used at the
Federal Open Market Committee's
Dec. 14 meeting.
Shares of
State Street
(STT) - Get Report
were up by 1.6% to $43.91 ahead of Wednesday's opening bell on the financial holding company's late-Tuesday announcement that it was cutting 1,400 jobs, or 4% of its work force.
AIG (AIG) - Get Report
paid a premium on its return to the credit markets with its first bond sale since it was rescued by the U.S. government two years ago. Shares were up 1.2% to $41.79 in early trading.
The Energy Information Administration will issue its weekly read on energy inventories at 10:30 a.m. Analysts polled by Platts are anticipating a drawdown of 1.5 million barrels to crude supplies in the week ended Nov. 26. Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said crude stockpiles declined by 1.14 million barrels.
The January crude oil contract was up by $1.41 to trade at $85.52 a barrel. The most actively traded February gold contract was up by $6 to $1,392.10 an ounce.
The dollar traded lower against a basket of currencies with the dollar index down by 0.5%, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury note weakened 29/32, strengthening the yield to 2.901%.
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--Written by Melinda Peer in New York
.
Disclosure: TheStreet's editorial policy prohibits staff editors and reporters from holding positions in any individual stocks.