Stock futures rise; Tesla, Abercrombie tumble

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Wednesday for Wall Street, putting the S&P 500 in the vicinity of its recent record close.

The gains came as European equities advanced, helped by factors like a strong reading on U.K. factories and hopes the European Central Bank may take further easing measures on Thursday.

Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott, said the U.K. factories report is helping overseas markets, but "there's no real U.S.-related even that's responsible for pushing up futures at this juncture." He suggested the "underlying backdrop" for stocks just remains positive, including that stocks had pared most of Tuesday's intraday losses by the close.

"That's indicative of a market that's biased to grind upward," he told MarketWatch on Wednesday.

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Futures for the Standard & Poor's 500 index (SPZ3)  rose 8 points, or 0.5%, to 1,764.50, while those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJZ3)  gained 54 points, or less than 0.4%, to 15,604. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index (NDZ3)  added 11.25 points, or 0.3%, to 3,391.

• Need to Know: Critical intelligence before the U.S. markets open /conga/story/misc/ntk_sixwide.html 285046

The U.S. data calendar features just leading economic indicators for September at 10 a.m. Eastern time, while Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto will deliver a speech on housing and the economy to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency conference at 1:10 p.m. Eastern. Pianalto is stepping down from her post at the end of the year.

Ahead of the week's highlight — Friday's jobs report — investors will be focused on the ECB meeting and U.S. GDP data, both on Thursday. Some economists expect that some sort of easing measures will be announced by the ECB, though most are not expecting an interest-rate cut until December.

Wouter Sturkenboom, investment strategist at Russell Investment, said the S&P 500 index (SPX)  has been levitating around 1,750 to 1,760 for the last two weeks, and he and plenty of others are worried. Weak economic data have delayed a tapering of the Federal Reserve's bond-buying program and continued to push markets higher.

Reuters Enlarge Image Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank (ECB) answers reporters questions during the ECB's monthly press conference in Frankfurt, September 5, 2013.

"We haven't sold into this rally yet, but our fingers are on the trigger," said Sturkenboom, who says he is watching a number of indicators. For example, if the S&P 500 hits 1,800 to 1,820, that will be a sign that markets have gotten expensive and a sell signal.

"The big story is the balance between data and QE expectations. Our view on that is really simple: QE tapering shouldn't be this important. We want to focus on fundamentals. If this rally continues for another 3% or 4% or 5%, we just don't have the valuations or technicals to maintain our current position," said Sturkenboom. Read: SF Fed's Williams: It's not obvious that the stock market is overvalued

U.S. stocks finished mostly lower on Tuesday, which halted a two-day winning streak for both the Dow industrials (DJIA) (DJIA) and the S&P 500 (SPX) . To achieve a record close on Wednesday, the S&P 500 will have to top its closing level of 1,771.95 on Oct. 29, while to score a record intraday peak, it will have to clear 1,775.22, a level hit intraday on Oct. 30.

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) dived nearly 12% in premarket trading after the electric-car maker only delivered 5,500 Model S units in the third quarter.

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) fell 7% after the retailer late Tuesdasy said same-store sales sank 14%.

Humana (HUM) posted third-quarter earnings of $2.31 a share versus $2.62 a year ago. Analysts had been expecting EPS of $2.15 a share and the stock lost 3% in premarket trading.

Time Warner (TWX)  said its third-quarter profit jumped to $1.26 a share from 84 cents a share in the year-ago period. The company was seen posting third-quarter earnings of 89 cents a share. The stock rose 2% in premarket trading.

European stocks rallied, recouping prior-day losses, with the euro-zone composite and services purchasing managers' indexes climbing from initial estimates reported for October. Asia markets were mixed, with a weaker yen supporting Tokyo stocks.

Gold and oil prices were higher, while the dollar fell.