US stock futures rose on Thursday as tensions across the banking sector eased, with the Swiss central bank supporting Credit Suisse. Stock-index futures trading S&P 500 futures ES00, -0.04% rose 11 points, or 0.3%, to 3936. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM00, -0.12% rose 65 points, or 0.2%, to 32,160 while Nasdaq 100 futures NQ00, +0.27% rose 59 points, or 0.5%, to 12,437. % fell 281 points, or 0.87%, to 31875, the S&P 500 SPX, -0.70% fell 27 points, or 0.7%, to 3892 and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.05% tumbled 6 points, or 41%, to 40%. What’s Driving Markets A subdued mood across the European banking sector was bolstering sentiment on Thursday. Shares of Credit Suisse CSGN, +20.80% rebounded as much as 32% to a record after the troubled lender secured a $54 billion liquidity backstop from the Swiss central bank, easing concerns that, for now, recent financial sector regulations will hurt. Global economy. “For now, the move has restored some stability to global markets, with the S&P 500 rebounding. [late Wednesday], once it appeared that the Swiss National Bank was standing by to help,” said Susannah Streeter, head of finance and markets at Hargreaves Lansdowne. “However nerves are still frayed and that was evident during trading in Asia. Investors are trying to swim in the Red Sea, as concerns spread about where the next weakness will come in the global banking sector,” Streeter added. Traders have also worried of late that volatility in the banking sector will compromise central bankers’ efforts to suppress inflation. That will be put to the test when the European Central Bank delivers its latest monetary policy decision. Expectations that the ECB will hike by 50 basis points are now in the air just hours before the decision. Markets are similarly uncertain about whether the Federal Reserve will raise rates next Wednesday. This is causing volatility in the bond market – shown by the ICE BofAML Move Index to be the highest since the global financial crisis in 2008 – has also created great uncertainty among equity investors. Source: Google Finance Mark Newton, Fundstrat’s head of technical strategy, noted that the banking crisis had caused “technical damage” to the stock market, with renewed weakness in the discretionary goods, materials and energy sectors, as fears of a sharp economic slowdown grew. . However, relative strength in the technology sector is “one of the few reasons why the broader market average has been slightly better than it might have been otherwise.” “However, in the short term, it is difficult to believe that stock indices have officially bottomed without evidence. QQQ [a Nasdaq 100 ETF] 300 and SPX need a close above [S&P 500] Close above 3928,” Newton added. US economic updates scheduled for release on Thursday include weekly initial jobless claims; February Import Price Index; Housing starts and building permits for February; and the March Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Report. All are at 8:30 pm Eastern.
