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By Bhaskar Prasad: Subscribe to Bhaskar's RSS feed | September 18, 2012 9:16 AM GMT
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open Tuesday as investors assessed whether stimulus measures announced by policy makers in the U.S. and Europe will revive global economic growth.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.11 percent, futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 index were down 0.16 percent, and those on the Nasdaq 100 index were down 0.10 percent.
On Monday, U.S. markets fell after last week's rally following the announcement of the Federal Reserve's plan to buy mortgage securities. The open-ended QE3, announced by the Fed last week, which was focused on mortgage-backed securities purchases to revive the economy, had lifted stocks to multiyear highs.
On Monday, Apple shares surpassed $700 in after-hours trading, as the iPhone 5, the company's latest smartphone, sold 2 million units in first-day orders. Investor sentiment was lifted as higher-than-expected demand for the smartphone raised optimism of further growth in the company's revenue.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Empire State Manufacturing Survey for September released Monday showed a reading of -10.4 compared with -5.8 in August. The index, which rates the relative level of the general business situation in New York state, signaled the worsening conditions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.30 percent, the S&P 500 Index was down 0.31 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.17 percent.
European markets fell Tuesday with investor confidence weighed down as fears of the debt crisis affecting the euro zone were revived by Spain's rising borrowing costs. The lack of an announcement on Spain's decision on whether to seek help from the newly declared bond buying program by the ECB is affecting investor sentiment. London's FTSE 100 was down 36.30 points, Germany's DAX 30 index fell 46.61 points and France's CAC 40 dropped 29.21 points.
Asian markets dropped Tuesday as investor sentiment turned negative following the intensifying tensions between China and Japan. The relationship between China and Japan took a bad turn last week after Tokyo said that it would buy the East China Sea islands claimed by both countries. Investors are concerned that the dispute over these islands could result in a trade fight between the two Asian economic powerhouses.
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