US stock futures are mixed, portending a cautious opening as Greece holds another round of debt-reduction talks with its creditors.
|||US stock futures are mixed, portending a cautious opening as Greece holds another round of debt-reduction talks with its creditors.
Dow futures are down 8 points at 12,579. The broader S&P 500 futures are down 2 points to 1,308.
The Nasdaq composite is up 3 points to 2,428. The tech-heavy index is getting a boost from solid earnings at IBM Corp. and Intel Corp. Intel's earnings were hurt less than feared by flooding in Thailand that shut many plants that make computer hard drives.
Later, investors will look to a trade group's report on the number of previously occupied homes sold in December.
Asian stock markets rose amid signs the US economy is picking up steam. But European markets mostly fell as nervous traders awaited results of Greece's negotiations.
A deal is necessary if Greece is to get the next batch of bailout cash that would prevent a devastating debt default. Greece does not have enough money to cover a e14.5 billion bond repayment in March.
Last October, Greece's partners in the eurozone sanctioned a deal whereby private creditors would take a cut in the value of their bond holdings to help lighten the country's debt burden.
Hopes for such a deal as well as a run of successful European bond auctions and solid economic and corporate news have helped shore up market sentiment in recent days. Many stock indexes have risen to five-month highs, while the euro has eased off 17-month dollar lows.
Having booked such gains, investors were more cautious Friday.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was flat at 5,741 while Germany's DAX fell slightly to 6,415. The CAC-40 in France was down 0.4 percent at 3,316.
The euro gave up some recent gains, and was trading 0.5 percent lower at $1.2898.
Earlier in Asia in the last trading day before Chinese New Year holidays begin Monday, the Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1
percent to 2,319.12. Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 1.5 percent to close at 8,766.36. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.8 percent to 20,110.37 and South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.8 percent to 1,949.89.
Oil prices tracked equities lower - benchmark oil for February delivery was up 84 cents to $99.55 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. - Sapa-AP
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/us-stocks-futures-subdued-1.1217153
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