U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher start Tuesday
as investors looked to continue the recent rally
even as oil prices touched a new intra-day high of
$50.48 (U.S.) a barrel.On Wall Street, Nasdaq
futures were up 4.00 points to sit 4.37 points above
fair value, suggesting a higher start for tech
stocks.
On Monday, the Nasdaq managed its first five-day
rally in more than four months.
Standard & Poor's futures rose 3.00 points to sit
3.83 points above fair value, signalling a similar
start for the Dow.
In Toronto, the Standard & Poor's/TSX composite
index starts the day at 8,812.91, after climbing
65.82 points on Monday. Monday's close was the
index's highest in nearly six months.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Average edged 2.20
points higher to end Tuesday at 11,281.83. Stocks in
Europe were also higher in early going.
In North America, light, sweet crude oil futures
were again pushing higher in pre-market trading,
touch a fresh intra-day high of $50.48, a penny
above the previous record set last week. Tuesday's
high was also 57 cents above Monday's closing price.
November futures contracts appeared to be
reacting to a prolonged production outage in the
Gulf of Mexico following hurricane activity in the
region.
The new high came even as OPEC president Purnomo
Yusgiantoro predicted Tuesday that oil prices will
drop below $40 a barrel in the first quarter of
2005.
“There are growing concerns that the U.S. oil
industry in the Gulf of Mexico suffered far more
severely than had been thought and that it will take
time to bring the facilities there back to the
levels of production prior to the hurricane season,
which is now finally coming to an end,” Dennis
Gartman, author of the daily Gartman Letter
newsletter, said.
“Further it is interesting that crude is firm
despite the fact that the Nigeria situation seems,
for the moment at least, to have been resolved.”
On the corporate front, Advanced Micro Devices
Inc. stock could come under pressure after the
California-based semiconductor maker said
third-quarter revenue would likely be at the low end
of its forecast. It didn't give a specific forecast
but said weakness in sales of chips used for cell
phones and other devices was to blame.
The company's shares were down about 1.5 per cent
in pre-market trading.
On the economic front, Federal Reserve Chairman
Alan Greenspan delivers the first of two addresses
this week on Tuesday afternoon. The topic is banking
and the remarks come at the American Banking
Association's annual conference in New York, but —
as usual — traders will be more interested in what
the Fed chairman has to say about the state of the
U.S. economy.
Previously, Mr. Greenspan has said the U.S.
economy is now gaining traction after a weak spell
early in the summer. Traders will also be on the
look out for any reading on the employment market
ahead of Friday's September non-farm payroll report.
Also set for release Tuesday is the Institute for
Supply Management's September assessment of activity
in the massive U.S. services sector. Last week, the
ISM's latest survey suggested continued strength in
the nation's manufacturing sector, even though
growth was slightly weaker than the month before.
The Canadian dollar — which last week hit an
11-year high — was a little stronger Tuesday,
trading at 78.62 cents (U.S.), up from Monday's
closing price of 78.57 cents. On Monday, the loonie
shed more than half a cent as its U.S. counterpart
regained its footing in the markets.