US stocks look ready to open higher after report
The U.S. stock market looked ready to open higher Wednesday, following a strong report on American manufacturing.
KEEPING SCORE: Dow Jones industrial average futures were up 64 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,362 as of 8:40 a.m. Eastern time. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures were up six points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,866 and Nasdaq futures were up 18 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,642.
BEST IN MONTHS: Orders to U.S. factories for long-lasting manufactured goods rose in February by the largest amount since November, 2.2 percent. Demand for airplanes and automobiles drove the gains. Last month's rise in durable goods orders followed a 1.3 percent drop in January.
FIVE BELOW: Discount retailer Five Below shot up in premarket trading after its quarterly profit and sales beat analysts' expectations. The stock of Five Below jumped $5.81, or 17 percent, to $44.35 before the start of regular trading.
EUROPE: Major stock markets in Europe were broadly higher. Germany's DAX was up 1.4 percent and France's CAC 40 gained 1.1 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5 percent.
ASIA: Japan's Nikkei 225, Asia's heavyweight index, gained 0.4 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.7 percent.
TREASURYS AND COMMODITIES: In U.S. government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was unchanged at 2.75 percent from late Tuesday. The price of crude oil rose 38 cents to $99.58 a barrel. Gold added $2.10 to $1,313.40 an ounce.
