Buoyant mood may prevail on Wall Street on Tuesday, as traders nurture hopes that the Greek crisis may take a turn for the better. Most market participants believe that the Greek government will survive the vote of confidence scheduled for 5 pm ET. Meanwhile, domestically, a 2-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting gets underway today and additionally, the existing home sales report for May create some ripples in the market.
As at 6:30 am ET, the Dow futures are rising 33 points, the S&P 500 futures are gaining 4 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures are moving up 5.75 points.
Shrugging off some early weakness, the major U.S. averages recovered in late morning trading on Monday and remained above the unchanged line for the rest of the session, as hopes concerning a solution to the Greek debt crisis strengthened.
The 2-day FOMC meeting is scheduled to begin today and a post-meeting policy statement due at 12:30 pm ET on Wednesday. Following that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a press briefing at 2:15 pm ET.
The National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its report on existing home sales for May at 10 am ET. Economists estimate existing home sales of 4.75 million for the month following April's modest drop to 5.05 million units.
In corporate news, Nokia (NOK) unveiled its N9 smartphone and the C2-03 model, targeting emerging market consumers looking to buy affordable phones. Additionally, the company said it expects to launch its first phone using the Microsoft Windows platform this year.
Chubb (CB) announced that it estimates aggregate losses of 55 cents to 68 cents per share on a pre-tax basis from the catastrophes that occurred between April and May.
Guess?, Inc. (GES) said its co-founder and chairman Maurice Marciano will retire from the company when his current employment contract expires on January 28, 2012.
Weatherford (WFT) may also be in focus after it announced that its U.S. subsidiary has agreed with BP (BP) to settle any claims that may have arisen between the companies relating to the Deepwater Horizon incident and oil spill.
Susquehanna Bancshares (SUSQ) may see some weakness after it announced a deal to buy all outstanding shares of Tower Bancorp. (TOBC) in a cash and stock deal valued at $343 million.
Barnes & Noble (BKS), Walgreen (WAG), Carnival Corp. (CCL), Adobe Systems (ADBE) and Jabil Circuit (JBL) are among the important companies due to report results today.
Most Asian markets advanced, as the positive close on Wall Street and wishful hopes of an amicable solution to the Greek debt crisis gave impetus for traders to stay invested.
Japan's Nikkei 225 average ended up 1.13 percent, led by utility, paper and other stocks having exposure to the euro area. These export stocks advanced on the yen's weakness against the euro. Deal news and the relief that rate increases will be kept in abeyance at least in the near term led the Australian market higher.
Australian brewer Foster's Group rejected a 9.5 billion Australian dollar cash takeover bid tabled by SABMiller, citing very low valuation provided by the offer. The minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's June meeting suggested that the rate hike itinerary could be pushed out, given the soft data received over the past month.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index broke a 5-session losing streak and ended notably higher.
The major European markets are higher on Tuesday ahead of the key confidence vote in Greece.
A report released by the ZEW Center for Economic Research showed that German economic sentiment deteriorated more than expected in June, with the corresponding indicator dropping to -9, a 2-year low, compared to the -3 reading expected by economists. In corporate news, A FT report suggested that AstraZeneca (AZN) is close to announcing the sale of Astra Tech, its Swedish healthcare and dental business, to U.S.-based Dentsply (XRAY). Dutch insurer Aegon said it expects underlying earnings before tax to increase by an average of 7 percent to 10 percent between 2010 and 2015. Meanwhile, U.K. restaurant group Whitbread reported total sales growth of 9.2 percent in the thirteen weeks ended June 2nd, while like-for-like sales rose a more modest 1.7 percent.
Commodities are seen rebounding amid the weakening of the dollar.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.