Stocks May Kick Off Trading In 2015 On Upbeat Note - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Following yesterday's New Year's Day holiday, stocks appear poised to move to the upside on the first trading day of 2015. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 68 points.

Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to comments from European Central Bank president Mario Draghi adding to speculation that the bank will provide further stimulus.

In an interview with German financial daily Handelsblatt, Draghi said that the risk of deflation in the euro area has risen and said the ECB is preparing to react to such a threat.

Draghi's comments suggested that the ECB is moving closer to unleashing full-blown quantitative easing, including sovereign bond purchases.

"We are in technical preparations to adjust the size, speed and compositions of our measures at the start of 2015, should it become necessary to react to a too-long period of low inflation," Draghi said. "There is unanimity within the Governing Council on this."

Not long after the open, trading could also be impacted by the release of a pair of U.S. economic reports on manufacturing activity and construction spending.

The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index is expected to dip to 57.5 in December, while construction spending is expected to climb by 0.5 percent in November.

Trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as some traders are likely to remain away from their desks following the holiday on Thursday.

Among individual stocks, shares of Eli Lilly (LLY) may be in focus after the company announced the completion of its acquisition of Novartis Animal Health, a unit of Novartis (NVS), for $5.4 billion.

Home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) may see early strength after Canaccord Genuity upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Buy from Hold.

On the other hand, shares of Linn Energy (LINE) are likely come under pressure after the oil and gas company cut its capital spending plans and lowered its annual dividend.

After moving moderately higher in morning trading on Wednesday, stocks showed a significant downturn over the course of the trading session. While the pullback was exaggerated by light volume, the major averages showed a rather steep drop.

The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session near their worst levels of the day. The Dow tumbled 160.00 points or 0.9 percent to 17,823.07, the Nasdaq slid 41.39 points or 0.9 percent to 4,736.05 and the S&P 500 slumped 21.45 points or 1 percent to 2,058.90.

Despite the pullback on the day, the major averages all moved notably higher for the year. The Dow surged up by 7.5 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 soared by 13.4 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Friday, although several markets remained closed on the day. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up by 1.1 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.5 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.3 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are sliding $0.76 to $52.51 a barrel after falling $0.85 to $53.27 a barrel on Wednesday. Gold futures, which fell $16.30 to $1,184.10 an ounce in the previous session, are tumbling $12.10 to $1,172 an ounce.

Among currencies, the U.S. dollar is trading at 120.59 yen compared to the 119.74 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.2030 compared to Wednesday's $1.2104.