Futures rise as commodities recover some ground

by **Cals** Wed 23 Sep 2015, 20:52

US Stocks

[size=28]Futures rise as commodities recover some ground

By Reuters / Reuters | September 23, 2015 : 7:45 PM MYT

(Sept 23): US stock index futures were slightly higher on Wednesday as commodity prices recovered some ground and positive economic data from Europe helped negate the impact of weak manufacturing data out of China.

* Brent crude oil prices inched towards US$50 a barrel after data showed a decline in US stockpiles last week. Copper bounced from near four-week lows on Tuesday as short sellers took profits.

* Concerns about China's economic health remained after data showed factory activity in the world's second-biggest economy shrank to a 6½-year low in September. China's factory activity has now shrunk for seven months in a row.

* European shares were higher after a surprise bounce in French business activity boosted investor sentiment.

* US stocks closed lower on Tuesday amid a steep selloff in commodity prices and continuing investor uncertainty over when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates.

* The Fed's decision last week to hold interest rates steady at near-zero levels has increased the uncertainty in the markets already reeling from concerns regarding slowing global growth.

* Data scheduled to be released on Wednesday includes Markit's US manufacturing PMI data for September at 9.45am ET (1345 GMT). The data is expected to show US factory data remained steady at 53.0 compared with August.

* Shares of Citrix Systems, were up 4.7% at US$75.55 in premarket trading, after Reuters reported the cloud computing company is attempting to sell itself.

Futures snapshot at 7.11am ET:

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 9 points, or 0.47%, with 239,599 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 23.75 points, or 0.56%, on volume of 43,419 contracts.

* Dow e-minis were up 86 points, or 0.53%, with 37,514 contracts changing hands.
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