Stock Futures Climb as Emerging-Market Turmoil Cools

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U.S. stock-index futures jumped on Tuesday as tumult in emerging currency markets paused and traders reviewed mixed corporate reports.

Today's Markets

As of 9:07 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures jumped 42 points, or 0.27%, to 15829, S&P 500 futures advanced 3.5 points, or 0.18%, to 1779 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 15.5 points, or 0.44%, to 3488.

Concerns about how the end of the Federal Reserve's bond-buying program could impact rate-sensitive emerging markets have pummeled Wall Street in recent days. Indeed, the Dow fell for the fifth day in a row Monday in the blue-chip average's longest losing streak since early December.

A move by India to boost its interest rates in a bid to protect its currency and slow capital outflows helped ease those concerns to some extent, according to Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group. Boockvar said other embattled emerging-market currencies, such as the Turkish lira and the South African rand, benefited from the move.

"The central bank tradeoff of defending one’s currency and fighting inflation against the concerns with the economic impact of higher rates is the main issue all face. India has taken a firm stand that you need the first in order to have healthy economic growth," he said in an email to clients.

In earnings news, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) posted better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter profits on a wider-than-expected profit margin. However, iPhone sales disappointed, sending shares of the world's biggest technology company tumbling.

Counterbalancing the iPad-maker, however, were pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), auto heavyweight Ford (NYSE:F) and materials maker DuPont (NYSE:DD). All three firms revealed better-than-expected quarterly profits.

On the economic front, a report from the Commerce Department showed orders for long-lasting goods tumbled 4.3% in December from the month prior, compared to expectations of a 1.8% gain. Excluding the transportation segment, orders fell 1.6%, versus a 0.5% pick-up analysts expected.

Home prices in 20 major U.S. metropolitan areas fell 0.1% on a non-seasonally adjusted basis in November from the month prior, while Wall Street expected prices to rise 0.2%. The S&P/Case-Shiller report showed prices were still up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis.

At 10:00 a.m. ET, traders will get a look at consumer confidence from the Conference Board.

In commodities, U.S. crude oil futures climbed 63 cents, or 0.65%, to $96.34 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline gained 0.33% to $2.63 a gallon. Gold fell $7.30, or 0.58%, to $1,256 a troy ounce.