As the flow of earnings reports begins in earnest, Wall Street will also devote attention to the Fed's Sept. 18 meeting, when the central bank lowered the target federal funds rate by a larger-than-expected half percentage point.The Fed's decision to make access to cash cheaper helped dismantle some of the intransigence in the credit markets that developed amid concerns about souring mortgage debt. Wall Street will no doubt be looking for any insights into whether the Fed is likely to cut again when it meets Oct. 30-31 or hold the target rate at 4.75 percent.
Wall Street's attention to the Fed will also likely extend to comments expected from two bank's officials. St. Louis Fed President William Poole and San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen are expected to deliver speeches Tuesday.
Dow futures rose 9.00, or 0.06 percent, to 14,121. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 1.60, or 0.10 percent, to 1,564.30 and Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 2.75, or 0.13 percent, to 2,183.00.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.56. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.75 percent, Germany's DAX index slipped 0.03 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.09 percent.
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[Associated Press;
by Tim Paradis]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
