| Asian stocks are likely to make a cautiously firmer start on Tuesday after U.S. stocks managed a modest comeback as investors set aside fears about the euro zone's growth outlook to hunt for bargains.
Wall Street had been down more than 1 percent at one stage as the euro-zone woes continued to weigh heavily. But late in the session investors looked to take advantage of oversold stocks to buy cheap, pushing the main indices into the black to close as much as 0.3 percent higher.
Retailers Wal-Mart Stores Inc <WMT.N> and Target Corp <TGT.N> also rose ahead of earnings later in the week. The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, is expected to post a rise in profit from a year ago, though it is also expected to show it is losing shoppers as the economy improves. See a preview [ID:nN13166566]
British and European stocks finished largely flat with the euro-zone jitters remaining a dark cloud over markets. Mining stocks were hurt by a drop in metal prices.
The euro <EUR=> rallied from a four-year low, helped by the bounce back in stocks, which led those betting on further euro weakness to buy back and cover their losses -- a short squeeze.
Asian stocks listed on Wall Street <.BKAS> fell 0.45 percent, while MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific stocks excluding Japan <.MSCIAPJ> was 3.23 percent lower.
Japanese markets are seen rising, with Nikkei futures traded in Chicago <2NKc1> 55 points above the last closing level in Osaka <JNIc1>.
Australian shares are also set to start firmer, with share price index futures <YAPcm1> up 0.6 percent to 4,524, a 57 point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 <.AXJO> index close on Monday. |
