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 Data showed China's November consumer price index surprised on the
upside, rising 1.5 percent on-year from 1.3 percent in October.
Calmer commodity prices helped steady sentiment too. Oil prices
clawed back some of their losses as U.S. crude inventories dipped,
while copper prices also held their ground. [O/R]
"We're going to see a little bit of back-and-forth movement today.
It has been a quite overnight and volumes have been very, very light
in most futures markets," said John Brady, managing director at
brokerage R.J. O'Brien & Associates in Chicago.
S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were down 2.25 points, or 0.11 percent, with
185,609 contracts traded at 8:19 a.m. ET (1319 GMT). Nasdaq 100
e-minis <NQc1> were down 10 points, or 0.21 percent, on volume of
33,397 contracts. Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 11 points, or 0.06
percent, with 31,123 contracts changing hands.
Investors remain cautious as concerns regarding China's slowing
economy and its impact on global demand persist. Those concerns have
also negatively affected commodity stocks this year as China is the
world's biggest consumer of metals.
The China inflation data comes ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's
meeting on Dec. 15-16, when the central bank is expected to raise
interest rates for the first time since June 2006.
"We're still in pretty good shape for a Fed rate hike next week. If
the Fed fails to raise rates, it will certainly raise volatility in
the markets again and the Fed doesn't want that," Brady said.
U.S. stocks closed lower on Tuesday, as the rout in oil prices
pressured energy stocks for the fifth day.
Data expected on Wednesday include wholesale figures for October at
10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT). The wholesale inventories are forecast to
have gained 0.1 percent after adding 0.5 percent in September.
[to top of second column] |
Dow Chemical <DOW.N> was up 9.5 percent at $55.74 while DuPont <DD.N>
jumped 10.4 percent to $73.65 in premarket trading after sources
told Reuters the companies are in talks to merge, creating a
chemicals giant with a market value of more than $120 billion.
Yahoo <YHOO.O> was up 1.81 percent at $35.48, after the company's
board decided not to sell its Alibaba <BABA.N> stake. Alibaba was up
0.3 percent at $84.64
Lululemon Athletica <LULU.O> was down 11.04 percent at $46.50 after
the yogawear retailer cut the upper end of its full-year forecast
and reported a fall in quarterly profit.
(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal and Aastha Agnihotri; Editing by Anil
D'Silva)
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