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US and European stock marets up

29 September 2009 07:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku- APA-Economics. Stock futures pointed toward a higher open Monday, rebounding modestly from the market’s worst week since early July, AP reported.
A blip up was to be expected after the stock market’s latest rally stalled in response to disappointing housing and manufacturing data. Investors are trying to decide whether it is wise to commit much money to the market while the economic recovery looks more tentative.
Stock markets around the world are mixed, reacting to the reports issued in the U.S. last week. Investors feel they got little direction over the weekend from leaders of the Group of 20 nations, who said they would keep stimulus plans. Asian markets sank on fears that a stronger yen will hurt its key exports sector.
Xerox Corp. said Monday it is buying the business processing company Affiliated Computer Services for about $6.4 billion. The news had little effect on trading, as investors appeared more concerned with the economy than pleased about the continued reawakening of the market for takeovers.
Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 32, or 0.3 percent, to 9,651. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 4.40, or 0.4 percent, to 1,045.50, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 8.755, or 0.5 percent, at 1,705.75.
Investors are waiting for critical economic data this week to help them determine what direction the market should take. The key report comes Friday when the Labor Department provides its monthly reading on employment. The market is waiting to see if there will be a significant decline in the number of jobs cut during September. Investors also are concerned about the unemployment rate. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predict the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September, from 9.7 percent a month earlier.
Although unemployment tends to keep rising after an economic recovery has begun, the concern now is that consumers who have curbed their spending drastically amid fears of losing their jobs will continue to cut back. That could stymie the recovery that economists believe has only recently begun.
The market will get some insight into how consumers are feeling when the Conference Board issues its September consumer confidence index on Tuesday. And Thursday, the Commerce Department issues its report on consumers’ income and spending for August.
The market is trying to bounce back from a rough week, which sent the Dow down 1.6 percent and the S&P down 2.2 percent. On Friday, disappointing manufacturing and home sales data renewed concerns that any economic recovery may be slow and week. A report on durable goods orders fell unexpectedly in August, when economists were expecting an increase.
A government report on new home sales rose slightly but not as fast as economists would have liked.
Bond prices fell Monday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.34 percent from 3.32 percent late Friday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.11 percent from 0.09 percent late Friday.
The dollar mostly rose against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 2.5 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.6 percent, Germany’s DAX index was up 1.5 percent, and France’s CAC-40 was up 0.7 percent.