US Stock Futures Suggest Higher Opening; Bank Of America Earnings, PPI Data For December To Be Watched

Stock futures in the U.S. Wednesday pointed to a higher opening to the day’s trading, following a stellar session on Tuesday buoyed by solid earnings.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.21 percent while futures on the S&P 500 were up 0.15 percent and those on the Nasdaq 100 were up 0.34 percent.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones index rose 115 points or 0.7 percent while the S&P 500 gained more than 1 percent while the Nasdaq-100 gained nearly 2 percent.

On the earnings front, earnings on Wednesday will feature numbers from Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) before markets open. In pre-market trading, the bank’s stock was up more than 2 percent on the New York Stock Exchange. So far in January, the stock has gained about 6 percent and in 2013, the stock appreciated by about 30 percent.

CSX Corp. (NYSE:CSX) and Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE:KMI) are scheduled to announce earnings after market hours.

Data on the producer price index, or PPI, for December is also due Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. A Wall Street Journal estimated a month-on-month change of 0.4 percent compared to a negative change of 0.1 percent in the previous reading.

“With the lagged effect of the previous easing in import prices yet to be felt in full, producer price inflation is likely to stay subdued during the first half of this year,” Capital Economics said in a note.

In Europe, stocks were upbeat across the board with the Stoxx Europe 600 index up 0.46 percent while the FTSE 100 was up 0.29 percent. Germany’s DAX-30 was up 0.89 percent while France's CAC-40 was up 0.45 percent.

In Asia, markets were mostly positive with Japan’s Nikkei spiking 2.5 percent while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended up 0.64 percent. The Shanghai Composite index was down 0.17 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.49 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.37 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.22 percent.