Wall Street Holding Onto Optimism

(RTTNews) - Early indications suggest that Wall Street stocks may open higher on Wednesday following yesterday's rebound. Global cues are mostly positive, with Asian stocks closing mostly higher, while the European markets are also seeing strength. The domestic markets await some key earnings, including Bank of America's, and economic data on the manufacturing sector, the Beige Book report and some Fed speeches scheduled for the day.

At 6:30 am ET, the Dow futures are adding 31 points, the S&P 500 futures are moving up 2.80 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures are advancing 12 points.

U.S. stocks advanced solidly on a rebound attempt on Tuesday, thanks to some fairly positive economic numbers and bank earnings.

On the economic front, The Labor Department is scheduled to release its report on producer price at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect producer price to have increased by 0.4 percent month-over-month, while core producer prices may have edged up 0.1 percent.

Around the same time, the New York Federal Reserve is due to release the results of its manufacturing survey for January. The consensus estimates call for an increase in the index to 3.30 from 0.98 in December.

The Energy Inform Administration will release its regularly scheduled petroleum status report for the week ended January 10th at 10:30 am ET.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to release its Beige Book report, which consists of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions from each of the 12 Federal Reserve districts, at 2 pm ET. Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans is due to speak to an economic forecast luncheon in Coarlville, Iowa at 12:50 pm ET. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart will speak on the economy and monetary policy in Atlanta at 5:20 pm ET.

In corporate news, Linear Technology (LLTC) reported second quarter adjusted earnings of 51 cents per share, up from 44 cents per share last year. Revenues were up 9.6 percent to $334.6 million. The earnings were ahead of estimates, while the revenues were in line. For the third quarter, the company estimates sequential revenue growth of 3-c6 percent - implying revenues of $344.64 million to $354.68 million. Analysts currently estimate revenues of $346 million for the quarter.

General Motors (GM) announced the appointment of Chuck Stevens as its CFO, effective January 15th, replacing Dan Ammann, who is set to become the company's president.

Majesco Entertainment (COOL) reported fourth quarter non-GAAP loss of 9 compared to a non-GAAP loss of 7 cents per share last year. Net revenues fell 62 percent to $10.1 million. Citing lack of clarity on market development and consumer preferences, the company said it is not providing sales and earnings outlook for 2014.

CLARCOR (CLC), CSX (CSX), H.B. Fuller (FUL), Kinder Morgan (KMI), MB Financial (MBFI) are among the companies due to release their quarterly results after the close of trading.

Most Asian markets advanced, encouraged by the positive close on Wall Street overnight, as confidence in U.S. economic growth increased. The mood was also lifted b by World Bank's positive prognosis of growth. The Japanese market rebounded strong from yesterday's sharp decline, as the yen weakened.

Japan's Nikkei 225 ended up 386.33 points or 2.50 percent at 15,809. Australia's All Ordinaries hovered in positive territory throughout the session, ending 35.70 points or 0.68 percent higher at 5,256. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed at 22,902, up 110.72 points or 0.49 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 3.49 points or 0.17 percent to 2,023.

On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the total number of new vehicle sales in Australia rose 1.7 percent month-over-month in December following a 0.7 percent drop in the previous month. A separate report showed that the value of owner occupied housing loans, excluding alterations and additions, rose a seasonally adjusted 1.9 percent in November.

Chinese banks extended 482.5 billion Yuan in new Yuan loans in December, less than the 570 billion Yuan forecast by economists, according to data released by the People's Bank of China.

European stocks have started higher and are continuing to trade in positive territory amid global growth optimism.

In corporate news, Swedish retailer H&M reported total sales growth of 10 percent for December. After adjusting for growth, total sales were up 12 percent. Frankfurt airport operator Fraport said it served 4.095 million, up 2.9 percent year-over-year.

On the economic front, a report released by the German Federal Statistical Office showed that the domestic economy expanded 0.25 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter. The country's GDP is estimated to have increased y 0.4 percent for the full year 2013. Germany recorded a fiscal deficit of 0.1 percent of GDP in 2013 in contrast to expectations for a balanced budget.

Eurostat reported that the eurozone's trade surplus increased to 17.1 billion euros in November from 16.8 billion euros in October. Imports declined 1.3 percent, steeper than the 0.2 percent drop in exports.