MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks: Wall Street Keeps A Nervous Eye On The 'sleeping Giant' Dollar

By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

Durable goods coming up; Kraft, Kofex up on M&A news

MADRID (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures stuck to a tight range on Wednesday, hinting at another low-volume day, with the data calendar thin and the influential dollar locked in ranges.

Deal news from Kraft Foods Group Inc. and Kofax Ltd. drove those shares higher.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (ESM5) rose 1 point to 17,949, while those for the S&P 500 index (YMM5) inched up 535 point to 2,086.75. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 (NQM5) were up 6 points to 4,435.

The week so far has produced losses of just over 0.5% for the major indexes. Tuesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-futures-wary-ahead-of-cpi-as-a-mix-of-global-data-rolls-in-2015-03-24) marked a second straight decline for stocks, after consumer prices and other data suggested to some that a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike could come sooner rather than later. The Dow industrials (DJI) dropped 104.90 points, and the S&P 500 (SPX) fell 12.92 points.

NYSE Composite volume was the fourth lowest this year. Analysts at Credit Suisse said Tuesday's volumes were 2% below Monday's dismal level. With little data out Wednesday, volumes would probably drop off once a report on oil inventory data is released, they said.

A reading on durable-goods orders for February are due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans will give a speech in London speech on monetary policy and the economy at 6:30 a.m. Eastern.

Sleeping giant: Tuesday's CPI data did help the dollar to stabilize, which in turn weighed on stocks. Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG, said many are waiting to see how long the dollar can "remain at bay before resuming its run."

"It's almost as if the U.S. dollar is a sleeping giant at the moment, and we probably won't be seeing much volatility in equities either until it awakes," said Shamu in a note.

The dollar (DXY) shifted slightly lower Wednesday after data showed German business confidence rose in March (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ifo-german-business-confidence-rises-again-2015-03-25) for the fifth straight month, hitting its highest level since July 2014.

Stocks to Watch: Shares of Kraft Foods Group Inc.(KRFT) surged 16% in thin premarket activity after a merger was announced with H.J. Heinz Company (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kraft-and-heinz-to-merge-in-deal-to-create-company-with-revenue-of-28-billion-2015-03-25).

Shares of Kofax Ltd.(KFX) were up 46% in premarket after the software company agreed to be acquired by Lexmark International (LXK) late Tuesday.

Earnings from Red Hat Inc.(RHT)Apollo Education(APOL), PVH Corp.(PVH) and Paychex Inc.(PAYX) are expected on Wednesday.

Other markets: European stocks edged lower. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index snapped a 10-day winning streak, and the Japan Nikkei 225 index edged up 0.2%.

Oil prices (CLK5) were barely higher ahead of crude-stockpile data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration due later. Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said its data for last week showed a 4.8-million-barrel gain in crude-oil supplies. Gold prices (GCK5) were moderately lower.

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