By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures posted moderate gains
on Tuesday a day after Wall Street suffered heavy losses, with J.P.
Morgan Chase & Co. off after results and Citigroup Inc. still
to come.
Futures for the S&P 500 index (SPZ4) rose 5 points to
1,870.60, while those for the Dow industrials (DJZ4) climbed 41
points to 16,273. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index (NDZ4) gained
13.75 points to 3,812.50. Stock futures had earlier slipped into
negative after downbeat German sentiment data.
Extending last week's losses, volatile trading on Monday ended
with the S&P 500 (SPX) dropping 1.6% to 1,874.74. Like other
major benchmarks, the S&P 500 is now trading below its 200-day
moving average of 1,900. Vote here: Does this stock slump have
further to go?
James Hughes, chief market analyst for Alpari U.K., said he's
wary because he sees traders targeting old stories, such as
concerns over slow global growth and its effect on earnings. "When
traders look for excuses for why the market is falling, [it] is
always a worrying time and would point to me as an indication that
we could see much more negativity to come," he said in a note.
Earnings in focus: The tide could change with Tuesday's earnings
batch, the first busy day in the third-quarter reporting season.
Ahead of the bell, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) swung to a
third-quarter profit as the bank rebounded from a year-earlier
period that saw it weighed by big legal charges. The bank's profit
per share was $1.36 and revenue rose to $24.2 billion, against
expectations for per-share earnings of $1.38 on revenue of $24
billion, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet.
The earnings were scheduled to be released around 7 a.m. Eastern
Time, but showed up on the Internet several hours earlier on a
third-party website. J.P. Morgan shares eased 0.4% in early
premarket trading.
Still to come, Citigroup (C) is expected to report per-share
earnings of $1.12 on revenue of $19.16 billion.
Wells Fargo & Co.(WFC), Domino's Pizza Inc. (DPZ) and
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) are among the other names
reporting.
Among other stocks in focus, Versar Inc. (VSR) was surging
almost 60% in premarket trading. Its PPS unit makes hazmat suits
and mobile decontamination shelters. Other stocks linked to
concerns over the Ebola virus continued a pattern of pushing
higher. Lakeland Industries Inc. (LAKE) and Alpha Pro Tech Ltd.
(APT) were trending higher. Ebola stock trading volumes should
raise red flags
Other markets:European stocks fell after a key sentiment survey
out of Germany turned negative. Burberry Group PLC shares dropped
after the luxury-goods maker posted a rise in sales, but cited
unfavorable foreign exchange headwinds and Chinese weakness. U.K.
inflation fell to a five-year low. The European Court of Justice
has begun holding a hearing on the European Central Bank's Outright
Monetary Transactions bond-buying program.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 index sank 2.4%, falling below the
15,000 level and skidding to two-month lows.
Crude-oil prices(CLX4) drifted lower, and gold(GCZ4) inched up,
while the dollar ((USDJPY) pulled back from an overnight slip
against the Japanese yen.
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