By Anora Mahmudova and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures pushed higher on
Friday, ahead of one of the world's biggest initial public
offerings ever, and as two major risk factors this week -- Scotland
and the Federal Open Market Committee meeting -- proved to be no
hindrance to markets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJZ4) gained 65 points, or
0.4%, to 17,243, while those for the S&P 500 index (SPZ4) rose
5.6 points, or 0.3%, to 2,010.20. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index
(NDZ4) jumped 15 points, or 0.4%, to 4,1109.75.
Leading indicators are due at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. At the same
time, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher -- a voting member of the
Fed policy committee -- discusses his dissent from Fed policy
statement on Fox Business Network.
This week's Fed meeting didn't sway the investor belief that the
central bank is committed to keeping interest rates low after
monetary stimulus ends, borne out by the Fed's meeting this week.
The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 index indexes to closed at
record levels on Thursday.
BTIG became the latest on Wall Street to lift its S&P 500
forecast on Thursday, raising its year-end price target to
2,075-2,100, from 1,980. "Given the underperformance of so many and
the seasonal bias that dominates the winter months, the bias
remains to the upside for equities in the coming three months,"
BTIG strategist Dan Greenhaus wrote on the company's website.
But he added that his subsequent six to nine-month forecast
isn't nearly as optimistic, given a shift by the Fed to
policy-tightening is going to lead to equity weakness.
Stocks to watch: One of the world's biggest IPOs in history will
debut within hours in New York. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA)
priced Thursday at $68, toward the high end of expectations. That
pricing values Alibaba at $168 billion, making it one of the
largest U.S. listed companies, giving it a bigger market
capitalization than Amazon. (AMZN)(AMZN)(AMZN)Want to buy into
Alibaba IPO? Caveat emptor
Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) may move on the final price set by Alibaba, of
which it owns a stake. Opinion: China's favorite sons will score
big in Alibaba IPO
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) fell 2.7% in premarket trading on Thursday's
news that Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison is stepping down in
favor of Safra Catz and Mark Hurd, who will serve as co-CEOs.
Oracle's two CEOS may fuel investor concerns
Shares of Concur Technologies Inc. (CNQR) surged 19% on news
Germany-based SAP AG (SAP) will buy the software group in a deal
valued at $8.3 billion. The Wall Street Journal said the deal was
the largest in SAP's history. U.S.-listed shares of SAP fell 4% in
premarket.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) may be a focus after a Chinese court
on Friday found its subsidiary in the country guilty of bribing
nongovernment personnel, fining the company nearly 300 million
pounds ($491.5 million).
Scotland rally: U.S. stock futures saw some benefit from news
that Scotland will stay a part of the U.K. The FTSE 100 index rose
0.6%, which if holds, would be the best performance since Sept. 9.
Spanish stocks pared earlier gains and were 0.4% higher as
strategists said the country's own independence movement has lost
strength on the Scottish outcome.
The British pound(GBPUSD) gave up some strength, pulling back to
$1.6395 from a high of $1.6526 seen when Scottish votes began to
come in. The Nikkei 225 index closed at nearly a seven-year high as
the dollar reached a historical high against the yen.
Gold(GCZ4) was sliding toward a third weekly loss, while oil
(CLV4) was also on the decline.
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