Wall Street Looks Set To Close Stellar Year On Positive Note

(RTTNews) - Early indications suggest that Wall Street stocks may open higher on Wednesday, the last trading session of the year, which was fairly benign for the markets. The major U.S. averages all ended in positive territory for the year, thanks to steady batch of positive economic data and accommodative monetary policy environment. Earlier in the global trading day, the Asian markets that were open for trading closed on a mixed note, while the European markets are holding up in a truncated session. The domestic markets also have a few economic data on pending home sales, jobless claims and regional manufacturing activity and a few earnings reports to render direction.

At 6:15 am ET, the Dow futures are rising 12 points, the S&P 500 futures are adding 3.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures are moving up 5.25 points.

U.S. stocks retreated in thin pre-holiday trading on Tuesday as valuation concerns and uncertain global economic environment triggered some profit taking.

On the economic front, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its jobless claims report for the week ended December 27th at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect claims to have increased to 286,000 from 280,000 in the previous week.

MNI Indicators is due to release the results of its regional manufacturing survey for the Chicago region at 9:45 am ET. The consensus estimate calls for the index to remain unchanged at 60.8.

The National Association of Realtors will release its pending home sales index for November at 10 am ET. Economists expect pending home sales to have risen 0.5 percent month-over-month in November.

The Energy Information Administration is due to release its customary weekly petroleum status report for the week ended December 26th at 10:30 am ET.

In corporate news, Monsanto (MON), SUPERVALUE (SVU), Resources Connection (RECN) and WD-40 Company (WDFC) are due to release their quarterly results.

The major Asian markets had a mixed session in the final trading day of the year, although the Japanese, South Korean and Indonesian market remained closed for extended New Year break. The Chinese, Hong Kong, Indian and Taiwanese markets advanced, while the Australia, Malaysian, New Zealand and Singaporean markets lost some ground.

Australia's All Ordinaries opened higher and saw some strength in the morning before losing momentum and retreating in a truncated session. The index ended down 3.70 points or 0.07 percent at 5,389. Real estate stocks retreated sharply and financial stocks also saw some degree of weakness, while energy, material and consumer staple stocks found some buying interest.

Meanwhile, China's Shanghai Composite ignored a nervous start and advanced strongly for much of the session before closing 68.86 points or 2.18 percent higher at 3,235. The Hong Seng Index of Hong Kong also ended a truncated session up 103.94 points or 0.44 percent at 23,605.

On the economic front, final figures released by HSBC and Markit showed that China's manufacturing sector moved into contraction territory in December. The manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 49.6 from 50 in November, although up from the flash estimate of 49.5.

A report released by the Reserve Bank of Australia showed that private sector credit in Australia rose at a slower rate in November, with the metric up 0.5 percent month-over-month following a 0.6 percent increase in October. The November growth was in line with expectations.

In Europe, the French and the U.K. markets opened higher and are holding on to their gains in early trading. Nevertheless, sentiment is muted in the truncated session ahead of the New Year holiday on Thursday.