* Durable goods, new home sales on tap
* Currency market in focus on talk of Japanese intervention
* Indexes up: S&P up 6.6 pts, Dow up 63, Nasdaq up 14.50
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Adds byline, analyst quote)
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, Sept 24 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose
on Friday in a rebound follwoing the S&P 500 index's drop below
a key technical level at 1,130, as investors awaited a batch of
economic data for more clues on the state of the U.S. economy.
Investors are keen to see if Friday's data will confirm the
latest trend of modest improvement in the economy seen in many
recent economic indicators.
"There is definitely some bargain hunting after a couple
days of losses" and investors are waiting for another round of
upbeat data that show the economy is improving, said Peter
Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners in New
York.
U.S. durable goods figures for August are due at 8:30 a.m.
[], while new home sales data for the same month are
scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. []. A Reuters
survey of analysts expect durable orders to be down 1 percent
after a 0.4 percent increase for the prior month. For housing
data, analysts expect sales of 290,000 units at an annual rate,
up from 276,000 the month before.
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> rose 6.6 points and were above fair
value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account
interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the
contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures <DJc1> rose 63
points, and Nasdaq 100 futures <NDc1> gained 14.50 points.
Investors will also closely watch developments in the
currency markets after the dollar rose sharply against the yen
on talk that Japanese authorities were buying dollars for yen
in their second round of intervention this month. There was no
immediate confirmation from the authorities. For details, see
[]
In company news, shares of Nike Corp <NKE.N> rose 5.6
percent to $82.00 after the company reported
stronger-than-expected orders and profit late on Thursday.
AMD <AMD.N> shares also rose 1.9 percent to $6.52 after the
company updated its third-quarter outlook in extended trade.
Boosting investor sentiment was the share offering of
Brazilian state oil company Petrobras. The sale of nearly $70
billion in shares surpassed all expectations, erasing concerns
that stocks are not attractive compared to other safe haven
assets.
The U.S. Senate will not vote on renewing Bush-era tax cuts
before the Nov. 2 elections, a spokesman for the majority
leader said on Thursday, as Democrats face internal divisions
and potential Republican obstacles. []
U.S. gold futures surged to an all-time high at $1,300 an
ounce in European trading hours on Friday as investors turned
to the precious metal as a refuge from volatility on the
currency markets.
Trading volume continued to be low, about 20 percent less
than the daily average last year, validating worries of those
who thought the recent rally was flimsy.
(Reporting by Angela Moon, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
