February 11, 2013- Stocks Looking for Direction Despite Economic Doubts

Wall Street is holding up despite all the doubts and uncertainties concerning the global economy. The U.S. index futures are pointing to a slightly higher opening on Monday. The absence of any major catalysts could increase the nervousness of traders, forcing them to stay on the sidelines. Most Asian markets remained closed either for the Lunar New Year holidays or for domestic public holiday. Sentiment among the Asian markets that remained open for trading was subdued, while the European averages are trading modestly higher ahead of a key Eurogroup summit to discuss a possible Cypriot bailout among other things. Earnings news and risk appetite is likely to drive trading in the U.S. The Dow futures are adding 27 points and the S&P 500 futures are up 2.80 points, while the Nasdaq 100 futures are rising 6 points. U.S. stocks closed mixed in the week ended February 8th, as eurozone debt fears early in the week and overbought levels of the markets kept buying interest in check, leading to muted performance for much of the week. For the week ended February 8th, the Dow Industrials fell 0.12 percent, while the S&P 500 Index added 0.32 percent and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.47 percent. On the economic front, as earnings news flow trickle down, traders are likely to shift their focus on Main Street and a few key economic reports scheduled for the week could some direction to the markets. The spotlight of the week is likely to be on the Commerce Department's retail sales report for January, the results of the New York Federal Reserve's manufacturing survey for February, the Federal Reserve's industrial production report for January, preliminary results of a consumer sentiment survey by Reuters and the University of Michigan and the weekly jobless claims data.