WASHINGTON: US stock-index futures pointed higher on Tuesday, suggesting the benchmark S&P 500 index will build on the record closing high it hit on Monday. Around three hours ahead of the opening bell in New York, S&P 500 futures ticked up 0.15 per cent to 2,489.3. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2 per cent to 6,003 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures tacked on 0.21 per cent to 22,064.
The S&P rallied 1.1 per cent on Monday, driven by cooling concerns about the financial impact of the hurricanes that have slammed into the US. Goldman Sachs economists, for instance, note that damage from Hurricane Irma that hit Florida appears to be “less than feared.” Some early estimates pinned the damage at $180bn or higher, but models are now estimating the figure at closer to $30bn, Goldman said. Harvey, which hit Texas, has taken a bigger toll, with damages closer to $85bn, making it the costliest natural disaster to hit the US save for Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Wall Street economists have said that economic growth in the third quarter will take a hit, but a bounce back is to be expected in the future. The economic docket for the US is light on Tuesday, but picks up later in the week with closely watched data out on inflation, and industrial production. In fixed income, Treasury yields continued their rebound. The 10-year yield recently ticked up by 0.028 percentage points to 2.163 per cent. It had fallen as low as 2.016 per cent last week.
