Today’s Markets
As of 11:26 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell rose 5.75 point, or 0.04%, to 13079.14, the S&P 500 gained 1.71 points, or 0.12%, to 1386.96 and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 12.50 points, or 0.42%, to 2958.31. The FOX50 added 4.19 points, or 0.40%, to 1043.40.
The early apprehension on the final trading day of the month puts Wall Street on pace to maintain the Dow’s second consecutive monthly gain and ninth of the last 10.
U.S. stocks suffered a modest retreat on Monday, giving the blue chips their longest Monday losing streak since 1973. Still, Wall Street largely preserved its best two-day rally of the year, one that was fueled largely by hopes the European Central Bank and maybe even the Federal Reserve will unveil bold steps this week aimed at easing economic strains.
Traders remain attentive to the latest chatter out of Europe, especially after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi pledged to do whatever it takes to save the euro. Expectations have risen that the ECB will announce new moves on Thursday, including potentially expanded bond buying, slashing interest rates or boosting the amount of cheap loans to European banks.
Others are hoping the ECB deploys a bigger “bazooka,” such as providing the European Stability Mechanism a banking license that would allow this permanent bailout fund to use leverage to bolster its resources. However, the German Finance Ministry sees no need to give the ESM a banking license and is not in talks on this matter, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday morning.
Still, the euro was recently trading up 0.35% against the dollar to $1.2298 and some European markets posted modest gains.
Mixed Economic Picture
Traders received some fresh evidence of the world’s economic strains on Tuesday as the Commerce Department said consumer spending failed to increase in June from May, missing forecasts from economists for a tiny increase of 0.1%. Also, the government said May consumer spending contracted 0.1%, compared with an earlier call for flat spending.
The disappointing spending news could weigh on shares of consumer discretionary stocks such as Saks (SKS: 10.52, -0.08, -0.75%) and Amazon.com (AMZN: 234.68, -1.41, -0.60%). The Commerce Department also said personal incomes rose 0.5% in June, narrowly topping forecasts for a rise of 0.4%.
On the other hand, the Conference Board said U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly jumped in July to a 65.9 reading, easily beating forecasts for a slide to 61.5 from June’s upwardly-revised 62.7 reading. The July report marks the strongest level for consumer confidence since April.
Also on the positive side, the S&P/Case-Shiller said home prices in 20 major U.S. metro areas rose 2.2% in May from April on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, besting forecasts for a rise of 1.5%. Prices slipped 0.7% year-over-year, lighter than an expected 1.5% decline.
Separately, the Institute for Supply Management’s Chicago regional index rose to a stronger-than-expected 53.7 in July, signaling an acceleration in U.S. Midwest manufacturing activity.
Fed in Focus
Meanwhile, Wall Street continues to play wait-and-see ahead of the Fed decision on monetary policy on Wednesday. The central bank kicks off a two-day meeting on Tuesday, but hopes for a second round of quantitative easing, or QE2, may not be met.
According to a new survey by Bloomberg, 88% of economists polled believe the Fed will hold off on unveiling QE2 during this month’s meeting, while 48% say the central bank will unleash a program of about $600 billion at its mid-September meeting.
In the commodities complex, crude oil fell 85 cents a barrel, or 0.95%, to $88.93. Gold slipped 50 cents a troy ounce, or 0.01%, to $1,623.90.
Corporate Movers
Lowe’s (LOW: 25.65, -1.21, -4.50%) bid $1.8 billion to acquire retailer Rona, but the Canadian company rebuffed the offer, saying it isn’t in shareholders’ best interests. The attempted takeover represents a 36.7% premium on Rona’s Friday closing price.
Coach (COH: 50.64, -9.94, -16.41%) tumbled 15% after the upscale leather goods company said fiscal fourth-quarter same-store sales inched up just 1.7% in North America, badly missing the Street’s view of 6.7%. Coach’s revenue rose 12% to $1.16 billion, also trailing consensus calls for $1.2 billion.
Pfizer (PFE: 24.42, +0.71, +3.01%) hit 52-week highs after the drug giant reported a stronger-than-expected 25% rise in second-quarter profits. Sales retreated 9% to $15.06 billion, but that topped the Street’s view for $14.87 billion.
Deutsche Bank (DB: 24.88, +0.03, +0.12%) disclosed plans to axe 1,900 jobs as part of an effort to slash about $3.67 billion in annual costs. The German bank also revealed a 46% tumble in first half earnings and an 8% slide in revenue to 8 billion euros.
Global Markets
London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.18% to 5683.62, Germany’s DAX gained 0.52% to 6809.11 and France’s CAC 40 inched up 0.06% to 3322.66.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.69% to 8695.06 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rallied 1.08% to 19796.81.
Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2012/07/31/futures-cling-to-green-after-disappointing-spending-data/#ixzz22DYQkX8E