By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks index futures edged higher on Wednesday as the S&P 500 struggled to make a sustained move above a key technical level amid continued concerns about the health of the economy.
The broad-based S&P has traded around its 50-day moving average for the last four days after falling sharply last week following a bleak assessment of the economy from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The 50-day average is currently about 1,088.
Investors have been torn between signs the economy is slowing and better corporate results. Stocks rallied more than 1 percent on Tuesday helped by earnings from some big retailers but the S&P failed to break above the closely watched 1,100 level.
"The big challenge in this market is that incredibly low interest rates carry both the promise of potentially higher stocks and the concern of a completely weakening economy," said Rick Meckler, president of investment firm LibertyView Capital Management (one word), in New York. "Those two factors playing against each other have led us to become very range bound."
Two big U.S. companies, Deere & Co
Target fell 2.2 percent to $49.55 premarket despite rising profits.
S&P 500 futures rose 3 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 4 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 3.5 points.
U.S.-traded shares of Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc
Resource-related stocks will be in focus after crude oil futures fell almost 1 percent as petroleum inventories in the United States headed for a record, following an unexpected sharp increase in crude stocks last week.
Copper was little changed after hitting a one-week high earlier in the session as inventory declines offset concerns about slowing demand in top metals consumer China.
European stocks <.FTEU3> were little changed, while Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> rose nearly 1 percent a day after the index hit an eight-month closing low, though increases were limited by yen strength against the dollar.
(Reporting by Edward Krudy; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
