– The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower open on Wednesday, with sentiment shaky despite the fairly positive outcome for a 5-year bond auction by Germany. The overbought levels of the markets may prompt traders to either take some profit or stay on the sidelines ahead of some key data/events scheduled for the next two days.
Following Germany’s footsteps, Italy and Spain are also scheduled to auction bonds. China is set to release its consumer price inflation report for December tomorrow and the U.S. Commerce Department is scheduled to release the retail sales report for December, while the European Central Bank and the Bank of England will announce their interest rates- all key market moving events that have some implication for the global economy. U.S. stocks advanced to 5-month highs on Tuesday, capitalizing on a buoyant aluminum demand forecast issued by Alcoa (AA). The earnings optimism and a recent string of positive domestic data kept eurozone debt fears at bay.
The major U.S. averages opened higher and moved sideways until the afternoon.