Wall Street Set For Strong Start As Commodities Surge Ahead

(RTTNews) - Wall Street stocks may get off to a racing start on Monday, helped by a rally in commodity prices. Oil prices are benefiting from hopes that production cuts by OPEC members will materialize soon. Meanwhile, traders are betting that the Bank of Japan, which meets this week, will deliver additional stimulus, and the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold off on a rate hike, given recent soft data. Traders in the domestic markets may also track data on home builder confidence and M&A news, if any.

As of 6:15 am ET, the Dow futures are rising 76 points, the S&P 500 futures are receding 8.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures are moving up 19.25 points.

The FOMC decision is likely to take center stage in the unfolding week, with the Fed set to release a post-meeting policy statement following the conclusion of a 2 day FOMC meeting ending on Wednesday. The central bank will also release its updated quarterly forecasts and Chair Janet Yellen will address the customary press briefing.

The Commerce Department's housing starts report for August due on Tuesday, the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index for September scheduled for Monday, the weekly jobless claims report and the National Association of Realtors' existing home sales report for August to be released on Thursday and flash estimate of Markit's manufacturing PMI for September are among the other sought after reports.

Some Fed speeches scheduled for Friday are also in focus. The Federal House Finance Agency's house price index for July, the Conference Board's leading economic indicators index for August, the Chicago Federal Reserve's national activity index for August and announcements concerning the Treasury auctions of 2-year, 5-year and 7-year notes round up the economic events of the week.

The National Association of Home Builders is scheduled to release its housing market index for September at 10 am ET. Economists expect the housing market index to remain unchanged at 60. In major corporate news, Pfizer (PFE) announced that the confirmatory study evaluating efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of its infliximab biosimilar compared to REMICADE met its primary endpoint.

Dominion Resources (D) and Questor announced that they have completed their proposed merger.

Weight Watchers (WTW) announced that it is CEO James Chambers has announced his decision to resign, effective September 20th. The company has set up an interim office of CEO, consisting of its CFO and two directors, and initiated a search for a new CEO.

Most Asian markets closed higher, as they opened after a long weekend, amid the rally in commodities. However, the Australian market, which experienced a delay in trading due to a technical glitch, ended marginally lower. The Japanese market was closed for a public holiday.

The Australian market, where trading was delayed by 90 minutes in the morning, opened little changed and held above the unchanged line till early afternoon trading. After a steep drop, the index recovered by late afternoon only to dip back. The market closed 60 minutes ahead of schedule, with the All Ordinaries down 3 points or 0.06 percent at 5,394.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 214.86 points or 0.92 percent before ending at 23,551 and China's Shanghai Composite Index closed 23.20 points or 0.77 percent higher at 3,026.

European stocks opened higher and have seen buoyancy since then. The averages in the region are currently notably higher. Twin catalysts, namely hopes of monetary policy easing by the Bank of Japan, which it gives out its verdict on Wednesday, and higher commodity prices are driving markets higher.

On the economic front, a report released by Rightmove showed that the average asking price of a house in the U.K. rose 0.7 percent month-over-month in September following a 1.2 percent decline in August. Annually, house prices rose 4 percent.

Eurostat reported that construction output in the Eurozone rose a calendar-adjusted 3.1 percent year-over-year in July, faster than the 0.6 percent rate in June. The rate represented the fastest since February this year.

Data released by the European Central Bank showed that the current account surplus of the euro area fell to 21 billion euros in July from 29.5 billion euros in June, as the trade surplus declined.