* Adobe to buy Omniture
* Gold hits 18-month high
* Consumer price, industrial output data on tap
* Futures up: S&P 5.2 pts, Dow 40 pts, Nasdaq 4.5 pts
(Adds quote, updates prices)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Sept 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose
on Wednesday on gains in commodity prices and an upswing in
merger and acquisition activity as investors awaited a batch of
key economic data, including industrial production and consumer
prices.
In the latest in a recent M&A flurry, Adobe Systems Inc
<ADBE.O> said it plans to pay $1.8 billion for fast-growing
business software maker Omniture Inc <OMTR.O> as Adobe, the
maker of Photoshop and Acrobat looks to turn around declining
sales. []
Adobe shares fell 4.6 percent to $34 in premarket trading.
M&A activity is considered a positive sign for the economy
as businesses display confidence in their capital positions and
begin to spend.
Commodity prices rose, with gold <XAU=> hitting an 18-month
high and helping to lift silver and platinum to multi-month
peaks. Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc <FCX.N> rose 1.2
percent to $72.20.
Economic data scheduled for Wednesday includes consumer
prices, due at 8:30 a.m EDT (1230 GMT), and industrial output,
due at 9:15 a.m (1315 GMT).
"The real mover of the day could be industrial production,
which should confirm some pretty brisk activity in the third
quarter, so the recovery rally continues," said Peter Cardillo,
chief market economist at Avalon Partners.
"Of course we also have M&A activity in focus today and
higher commodity prices. So you have a combination of risk
appetite growing across the board."
Cardillo expects the market to rally into options
expiration, when four different types of options and futures
contracts will expire on Thursday and Friday in a convergence
known on Wall Street as quadruple witching. The phenomenon can
lead to more volatility in the equities market as traders
unwind positions.
S&P 500 futures <SPc2> rose 5.20 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 <DJc2> added 40
points, and Nasdaq 100 <NDc2> futures gained 4.5 points.
UBS downgraded Verizon Communications Inc <VZ.N> to
"neutral" from "buy," saying the company is likely to miss its
outlook for 2009 earnings growth. The stock fell 1 percent to
$30.69 premarket. []
Genworth Financial Inc <GNW.N> shares rose 1.7 percent to
$12.25 in premarket trade Wednesday, a day after the company
priced 48 million shares of its common stock at $11.75 per
share. []
Oracle Corp <ORCL.O> ended a high-profile computer-building
partnership with Hewlett-Packard Co <HPQ.N> as it prepares to
acquire Sun Microsystems Inc <JAVA.O>, an HP rival.
[]
European shares rose Wednesday, with the main FTSEurofirst
300 index <> hitting the 1,000 mark for the first time
since October 2008, boosted by stronger banking and commodity
stocks. []
Asian shares hit their highest levels for 2009 on Wednesday
after upbeat U.S. economic news gave riskier assets that are
leveraged to global growth a boost, while the U.S. dollar
slipped to a one-year low. []
U.S. stocks rose to 2009 highs on Tuesday after stronger
manufacturing and retail sales data boosted commodity prices
and shares of materials companies.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey
Benkoe)
