Futures point to slight rebound after selloff

[March 11, 2015]  By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher on Wednesday, implying a modest rebound from a sharp decline in the previous session, though questions remain about when the Federal Reserve would adjust its rate policies.

Wall Street fell sharply on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 suffering its biggest one-day decline in two months, a drop that surpassed a selloff of similar magnitude on Friday. The benchmark index is down about 2.7 percent over the past three sessions, while the CBOE Volatility index, a measure of investor anxiety, is up almost 19 percent over that period.

The weakness has come on the increasing view the Fed may raise interest rates as soon as June. Those worries pushed the U.S. dollar to a nearly 12-year peak against the euro on Tuesday, and added to concerns the dollar will continue to weigh on U.S. multinationals' earnings.

The U.S. dollar index stayed strong on Wednesday, up 0.8 percent. The index has risen in five of the past six sessions, up more than 4 percent over that period. The euro fell 1.1 percent and hit a 12-year low.
 

Despite the recent weakness, which took the Dow and S&P into negative territory for the year on Tuesday, the S&P is just 3.5 percent from a record close hit earlier this month. It is also about four points away from its 100-day moving average of 2,040.27. If the S&P breaks below that level, that could be a weak medium-term momentum signal.

Energy shares will be in focus following a drop of more than 3 percent in crude oil prices on Tuesday. U.S. crude futures  rose 0.4 percent to $48.47 per barrel on Wednesday. While oil is up more than 10 percent from a bottom reached in late January, it remains down more than 55 percent from a high reached in June.

In company news, Zogenix Inc late Tuesday said it would sell its Zohydro painkiller business to Pernix Therapeutics Holdings Inc  in a deal that could be worth nearly $400 million. Zogenix fell 14 percent to $1.44 in premarket trading.

Wendy's Co fell 2.3 percent to $10.50 in premarket trading a day after Credit Suisse started coverage on the company with an underperform rating.

Futures snapshot at 7:39 a.m. EDT:

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 6.75 points, or 0.33 percent, with 151,753 contracts changing hands.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 10.75 points, or 0.25 percent, in volume of 19,813 contracts.

* Dow e-minis  were up 42 points, or 0.24 percent, with 22,107 contracts changing hands.

(Editing by W Simon and Chizu Nomiyama)

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