Futures Rebound on Upbeat Euro Data

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U.S. stock-index futures rebounded after Wall Street's worst selloff of 2013 as traders responded to data suggesting the worst of Europe's economic crisis could behind  it.

Today's Markets

As of 7:50 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 75 points to 13920, S&P 500 futures gained 7.3 points to 1501 and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 12.5 points to 2724.

European political fears shook the markets Monday, sending the broad S&P sliding 1.2% in its steepest drop since November. However, a round of better-than-expected data lifted sentiment Tuesday.

A final reading of Markit's eurozone composite PMI gauge checked in at 48.6 in January from a previous estimate of 48.2 and 47.2 in December. It suggests the 17-member currency bloc's economy is still shrinking, but at its slowest pace in 10 months as declines were slowed in both the manufacturing and services components.

"The eurozone is showing clear signs of healing, with the downturn easing sharply in January and the region moving closer to stabilisation in the first quarter," Markit Chief Economist Chris Williamson said in the report.

Still, the recovery hasn't been spread evenly. Germany's economy, Europe's biggest, is growing, while France, Italy and Spain are still pulling back.

A separate PMI report from HSBC showed output across China's manufacturing and services sectors heated up at the swiftest pace in two years. The data have helped to ease fears that the economy could be in for a so-called "hard landing" in which the rate of growth plunges.

Later in the day, traders will get a fresh look at how the U.S. services sector fared in January. Economists expect the key component of the world's biggest economy to have expanded at a slightly slower pace than it did in the previous month.

Analysts also noted attention could shift back to Capitol Hill as the Congressional Budget Office is set to release its annual budget and economic outlook. The debt ceiling has been temporarily suspended until May 18, but there is still expected to be haggling over that measure, and sequestration, which goes into effect in March.

Elsewhere, oil prices pushed higher. The benchmark oil contract climbed 69 cents, or 0.72%, to $96.86 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline jumped 1.3% to $3.049 a gallon. In metals, gold rose $1.50, or 0.09%, to $1,678 a troy ounce.

Foreign Markets

The Euro Stoxx 50 jumped 1.1% to 2653, the English FTSE 100 rose 0.62% to 6285 and the German DAX climbed 0.36% to 7663.

In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 sold off by 1.9% to 11047 and the Chinese Hang Seng plunged 2.3% to 23149.

Follow Adam Samson on Twitter @adamsamson.