Updated from 7:58 a.m. EDTTraders were sending stock index futures sharply higher Tuesday morning as crude oil continued falling amid worries about demand.
Futures on the
S&P 500 were up 10 points at 1259 and were 11 points ahead of fair value.
Nasdaq futures were gaining 18 points to 1830 and were 21 points better than fair value.
Contributing to the buying mood was another decline in oil prices. Recently, near-term crude was losing more than $2 to around $119 a barrel.
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For the moment, lower oil prices were stealing attention from the upcoming
Federal Reserve policy meeting. At 2:15 p.m. EDT, the central bank will release its statement on rates. No change in the 2% fed funds target is expected, but the Fed's comments will be scrutinized for clues about future policy.
Oil earlier slid to a point where it last sat at the start of May, and it has now fallen almost $30 since it approached $148 a barrel less than a month ago. Concerns were weakening about how a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico would affect oil installations operating in the region.
As for corporate earnings,
Procter & Gamble (PG) topped profit and revenue estimates and said its first-quarter results should be in line with expectations.
Homebuilder
D.R. Horton (DHI) had a quarterly loss, though its revenue, despite sinking more than 40% from last year, matched analysts' targets.
Duke Energy (DUK) and
Marvel Enterprises (MVL) both exceeded expectations, while
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) had a surge in revenue and easily surpassed forecasts.
Among notable analyst actions, UBS initiated
Apple (AAPL) with a buy rating and a $195 price target, and Merrill Lynch downgraded
Nortel (NT) to underperform from neutral.
On the fixed-income side, Treasury prices were slightly lower. The 10-year note was down 3/32 in price, yielding 3.97%, and the 30-year bond was off 1/32, yielding 4.59%. The dollar was advancing against its major competitors, with the exception of the yen.
Overseas, major markets in Asia were weaker during the prior session, but Europe's bourses were uniformly stronger.
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