U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday after China’s consumer inflation rose slightly but remained under the government’s 3 percent target for the year and commodity prices stabilized.
* Data showed China’s November consumer price index surprised on the upside, rising 1.5 percent on-year from 1.3 percent in October.
* Calmer commodity prices helped steady sentiment too. Oil prices climbed back up as U.S. crude inventories dipped, while copper prices also held their ground. [O/R]
* Investors remain cautious as concerns regarding China’s slowing economy and its impact on global demand persist. Those concerns have also negatively affected commodity stocks this year as China is the world’s biggest consumer of metals.
* The weak China data comes ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting on Dec. 15-16, when the central bank is expected to raise interest rates for the first time since June 2006.
* U.S. stocks closed lower on Tuesday, as a steep drop in oil prices pressured energy stocks for the fifth day.
* Data expected on Wednesday include wholesale figures for October at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT). The wholesale inventories are forecast to have gained 0.1 percent after adding 0.5 percent in September.
* Dow Chemical (DOW.N) was up 8.3 percent at $55.11 while DuPont (DD.N) jumped 9 percent to $73.00 in premarket trading after sources told Reuters the companies are in talks to merge, creating a chemicals giant with a market value of more than $120 billion.
* Yahoo (YHOO.O) was up 2.7 percent at $35.79, after the company’s board decided not to sell its Alibaba (BABA.N) stake. Alibaba was up 1 percent at $85.18.
* Lululemon Athletica (LULU.O) was down 8 percent at $48 after the yogawear retailer cut the upper end of its full-year forecast and reported a fall in quarterly profit.
* Kinder Morgan (KMI.N) was down 7.8 percent at $14.50 after the pipeline giant slashed its dividend by 75 percent.
Futures snapshot at 6:58 a.m. ET:
* S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were up 1.25 points, or 0.06 percent, with 146,384 contracts traded.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were down 2.75 points, or 0.06 percent, on volume of 27,808 contracts.
* Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were up 35 points, or 0.2 percent, with 24,939 contracts changing hands.
REUTERS
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