Stock Market Today: Dow futures rise as markets continue recovery in risk appetite
How are stock index futures traded?:
S&P 500 futures rise 1%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.7%.
Nasdaq 100 futures rise 1.2 percent.
On TuesdayThe Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 294 points, or 0.76%, to 38,998, the S&P 500 gained 54 points, or 1.04%, to 5,240 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 167 points, or 1.03%, to 16,367.
The recovery from Monday’s sharp sell-off in the stock market continued early Wednesday, with futures pointing to good gains as trading opened on Wall Street.
An increased willingness to take risks is reflected in a move away from supposedly safe investments such as US government bonds, which in turn leads to higher returns.
One reason for the recent decline in stock prices was fears that a rapid unwinding of the yen carry trade as the Japanese currency strengthened would lead to a forced liquidation of positions in once-popular trades, such as long positions in major U.S. technology stocks.
But the yen weakened sharply on Wednesday following a verbal intervention by Japanese politicians. The USDJPY pair fell to around 141.5 on Monday, but rose again to 147.5 on Wednesday.
“The bear that has driven markets into the abyss over the past few days is taking a well-deserved break, but time will tell if it is just hibernating,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida appears to have put an end to the bear party, at least for now, by saying that Japanese interest rates would not be raised again as long as market instability persists,” he added.
