Stock Futures Poised To Climb; Rite Aid, El Pollo Advance
By ALAN R. ELLIOTT,
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
12-18-14 Posted 09:11 AM ET
Stock futures were up sharply, although off early highs ahead of Thursday's open, as the afterglow of Wednesday's Federal Reserve announcement buoyed most world markets.
Dow futures rocked up 196.1 points above fair market value. Nasdaq 100 futures surged 52.4 points. S&P 500 futures rumbled ahead 25.2 points.
Small caps looked to extend Wednesday's strong performance, with Russell 2000 futures up a powerful 12 points.
The stock market today received a second updraft from yesterday's announcement from the Federal Reserve, which basically framed an interest rate hike as an option that has been dusted off and is back on the Fed's workbench, but not imminent.
That announcement Wednesday afternoon sent the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to better than 2% gains, lifting them back above their 50-day moving averages.
Overseas markets picked up on that momentum, helped by a rising dollar and rebounding oil prices. Benchmark indexes in Hong Kong and Tokyo surged more than 1% and 2%, respectively, although China's Shanghai Composite skidded 3.1% lower. In Europe, the CAC-40 in Paris and Frankfurt's DAX were each up more than 2% at midday. London's FTSE 100 index had climbed 1%.
Unemployment claims declined to 289,000 in the week ended Dec. 13, the Labor Department reported, below the prior week's upwardly revised 295,000 claims. Analysts had forecast a flat outcome, at 295,000 claims. The four-week moving average ticked slightly lower, its first decrease in at least five weeks.
Russia-related stocks and ETFs were rebounding hard as the ruble regained some lost ground. Wireless service providers led the bounce, with Mobile Telesystems (NYSE:MBT) bolting 22% higher and VimpelCom (NASDAQ:VIP) spiking 20% in premarket action.
In other stocks, July new issue El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) vaulted 12% higher. A steep six-week pullback had left the Costa Mesa, Calif.-based grilled chicken chain 42% above its initial offering price at the end of Wednesday's trade.
Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD) scrambled ahead 10% before the open. The drugstore chain reported Q3 sales and earnings above analyst expectations. Management lifted the top end of its full-year earnings guidance to above consensus expectations, and revenue guidance was in line with views.
The low-priced stock has been rising since mid-October, trying to fight back from a deep, six-month consolidation.
Economic news due out later this morning includes Markit's preliminary service purchasing managers index for December at 9:45 a.m. ET. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's December regional manufacturing survey and the Conference Board's November leading economic indicator index are expected at 10 a.m., and weekly natural gas storage data from the Energy Information Administration at 10:30 a.m.
