Stock futures point to higher open for Wall Street
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[February 23, 2018]
By Sruthi Shankar
(Reuters) - U.S. stock index were higher on
Friday as bond yields retreated for the second straight day, with
investors also focusing on speeches by Federal Reserve officials for
their views on interest rates.
U.S. Treasury 10-year note yields <US10YT=RR>, the benchmark for global
borrowing costs, hit a more than four-year high on Wednesday after
minutes from the central bank's last meeting showed policymakers grew
more confident in the need to keep raising rates. They were last at
2.8842 percent.
New York Fed President William Dudley, Cleveland Fed's Loretta Mester
and their San Francisco counterpart, John Williams, are expected to
speak during the day. All three of them are members of the rate-setting
committee this year.

By 6:50 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMc1> had gained 111 points. S&P 500
e-minis <ESc1> were up 8.25 points and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> rose
25.75 points.
The S&P 500 and the Dow ended higher on Thursday as investor nerves were
calmed by comments from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who
expressed concerns that a "bunch of hikes" this year could turn Fed
policy restrictive.
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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, (NYSE) in
New York, U.S., February 6, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Market participants are still largely expecting the Fed to raise rates three
times this year, beginning with its next meeting in March.
Shares of Blue Buffalo Pet Products <BUFF.O> jumped 17 percent in premarket
trading after General Mills <GIS.N> said it would buy the natural pet food maker
for $8 billion in cash. General Mills shares were marginally lower.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise <HPE.N> rose about 10 percent after reporting upbeat
quarterly results and announcing a plan to return $7 billion to shareholders by
the end of fiscal 2019.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
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