NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Investors will have a variety of economic reports to sift through Wednesday, as they seek further confirmation that the U.S. economy is on the road to recovery.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were up about 0.4%, signaling a rebound from U.S. markets' worst day of the year. Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Reports are due on private-sector jobs, consumer credit, productivity, crude inventories and mortgage applications. Friday marks the release of the all-important February jobs report.
Investors are also keeping an eye on Greece, where private-sector bondholders need to officially agree to a crucial restructuring of the nation's debt this week. If bondholders do not sign on in sufficient numbers, Greece's bailout could be in jeopardy and the nation could face a hard default.
Meanwhile, Apple is widely expected to announce the third version of its iPad at a presentation in San Francisco on Wednesday. Shares of Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) are up 47% over the past year.
Stocks fell Tuesday as markets were under pressure from weak economic data out of Europe, and rising yields on euro-area government bonds -- all three indexes suffered their worst day in 2012.
World markets: European stocks were higher in midday trading. Britain's FTSE 100 (UKX) ticked up 0.4%, the DAX (DAX) in Germany added 0.2% and France's CAC 40 (CAC40) rose 0.7%.
Asian markets ended lower. The Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) dropped 0.7%, while the Hang Seng (HSI) in Hong Kong slipped 0.9% and Japan's Nikkei (N225) was off 0.7%.
Economy: Hiring in the private sector picked up in February, according to a report released Wednesday by payroll processor ADP. The private sector added 216,000 jobs in the month, which was roughly in line with forecasts.
Consumer credit for January is expected to have increased by $12 billion, while a revised estimate of fourth-quarter productivity is expected to show that it increased by 0.9%.
Companies: Shares of online radio service Pandora (P) fell more than 20% in premarket trading, after narrowly missing analyst expectations on quarterly earnings and revenue.
Netflix (NFLX) shares rose 4% following reports that CEO Reed Hastings is seeking a partnership with a cable company, and has held meetings with several providers in recent days.
Children's Place Retail Stores (PLCE) shares dropped 5%, after the company reported an miss on quarterly revenue. The company attributed the results to warmer-than-expected weather that forced sharp markdowns on winter apparel.
Commodities: Oil for April delivery rose 36 cents to $105.08 a barrel.
Gas prices declined for the second day in a row, falling three-tenths of a cent to $3.76 a gallon, according to motorist group AAA. Gas prices are up 14.69% so far in 2012.
Gold futures for April delivery rose $7.30 to $1,679.40 an ounce.
The dollar was little changed against the euro and Japanese yen, but rose slightly versus the British pound.
Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury slipped, pushing the yield up to 1.96% from 1.94% late Tuesday.
Index | Last | Change | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
Dow | 32,627.97 | -234.33 | -0.71% |
Nasdaq | 13,215.24 | 99.07 | 0.76% |
S&P 500 | 3,913.10 | -2.36 | -0.06% |
Treasuries | 1.73 | 0.00 | 0.12% |
Company | Price | Change | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
Ford Motor Co | 8.29 | 0.05 | 0.61% |
Advanced Micro Devic... | 54.59 | 0.70 | 1.30% |
Cisco Systems Inc | 47.49 | -2.44 | -4.89% |
General Electric Co | 13.00 | -0.16 | -1.22% |
Kraft Heinz Co | 27.84 | -2.20 | -7.32% |
Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
---|---|---|---|
30 yr fixed | 3.80% | 3.88% | |
15 yr fixed | 3.20% | 3.23% | |
5/1 ARM | 3.84% | 3.88% | |
30 yr refi | 3.82% | 3.93% | |
15 yr refi | 3.20% | 3.23% |
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