EmailS&P futures suggest a modest up open. That can be ascribed to upward momentum.
There is almost no news to account for the upbeat tone this morning, so it can be seen as a reflection of a modestly bullish underlying sentiment. Journalists can scour the wires for something to ascribe market action to this morning, but there just isn't much, and what there is leans bearish.
There are no earnings reports of note today (unless you count CVS Caremark, which I don't, and they missed on revenue anyway although the stock is up pre-market) and there are no US economic releases.
European stock exchanges were down slightly a couple of hours ago, but are now up a bit. This is despite news that Italian real GDP fell 0.7% in the second quarter, and that Italian industrial production in June fell 1.4%. Struggling Italian manufacturers aren't alone in Europe. German manufacturing orders fell 1.7% and UK industrial production fell 2.5% that month as well.
No worries. The markets expect European Central Bank president Draghi to do all that is necessary, or at least to state that emphatically.
The S&P 500 is inching higher towards its 52-week high of 1422 set back in April. Momentum has been positive for a little over two months. Whether it can retain a bullish tone in the face of a likely decline in third quarter profits, a meager 1% annual rate of real GDP growth in the second half of the year, worsening economic conditions in Europe, and the (underestimated) threat of a fiscal disaster from Congress remains to be seen. Yes, your author is skeptical.
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