AP
U.S. Stocks Head for Higher Open
Thursday January 24, 7:02 am ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
U.S. Stocks Head for Higher Open a Day After Sharp Reversal Sends Stocks Higher
NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks headed toward a moderately higher open Thursday, a day after stocks staged an extraordinary reversal and as European stocks rebounded from a sharp sell-off.
Investors awaited economic figures as well as quarterly results from big names like Microsoft Corp. and AT&T Inc. but in a broader sense tried to determine whether the late-day comeback Wednesday would hold.
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Investors worldwide this week have given in to fears of a U.S. recession that could affect economies around the world. In European trading Thursday, some investors were unnerved by word of fraud at a large French bank. A Societe Generale bank executive said a futures trader who defrauded the bank of billions of euros acted alone.
The Dow Jones industrial average on Wednesday swung 631.86 points from its low point to its high -- its largest single-day reversal in more than five years. But investors are now tasked with determining whether the rally was in part due to technical reasons or whether it represented any shift in sentiment.
Some investors buying in Wednesday's rally were likely forced to buy when stocks started turning higher. Such investors who "short" stocks wager prices will fall but have to step in to cover their bets should stocks move higher. These moves can exacerbate rallies.
Stock futures were volatile early Thursday but indicated stocks would open higher. Dow futures rose 40, or 0.33 percent, to 12,312. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 8.70, or 0.65 percent, to 1,350.20, and the Nasdaq 100 index rose 14.50, or 0.80 percent, to 1,822.00.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.56 percent from 3.55 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 2.06 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 2.29 percent. In morning trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 4.14 percent, Germany's DAX index surged 5.53 percent, and France's CAC-40 jumped 4.66 percent.
Beyond the broader moves of the markets, investors still had concerns about the health of corporate results. Online auctioneer eBay Inc. said late Wednesday its fourth-quarter earnings rose to $530.9 million, or 39 cents per share, from $346.5 million, 25 cents per share. Revenue grew 27 percent to $2.18 billion. While the results were stronger than Wall Street had expected, investors were concerned by the company's first-quarter forecast, which fell short of expectations.
New York Stock Exchange: www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: www.nasdaq.com