US Stock Futures Tiptoe Higher After Global Terror Attacks

New York (Dec 20)  Stock futures crept higher on Tuesday in cautious trading as uncertainty reigned after separate terror attacks in Berlin, Zurich and Turkey on Monday.

S&P 500 futures were up 0.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 0.13%, and Nasdaq futures rose 0.14%.

News broke late Monday afternoon that a truck had plowed through the crowd at an outdoor Christmas market in Berlin. Twelve are reportedly dead and 48 have been injured, some severely. Police said the event was "probably a terror attack." The attack echoes a similar act of terror in Nice, France, on Bastille Day earlier this year in which a cargo truck plowed into a crowd, killing 86 and injuring more than 400.

Separately, a gunman shot up a mosque in Zurich on Monday, injuring three. Swiss police have reportedly discovered a body in the vicinity believed to be the shooter. The mosque was popular among Somali migrants.

The Russian ambassador to Turkey was shot and killed in Ankara, Turkey, on Monday. Russia has called the assassination an act of terrorism. The two countries have had tenuous relations as the civil war in Syria spilled over into bordering Turkey. Russia backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebel troops in Syria.

The three separate acts of terror escalated worries over terrorism worldwide, a concern President-elect Donald Trump often flamed during his campaign.

The Dow looked to continue its march toward the psychologically important 20,000 on Tuesday, a level it flirted with last week. The Dow has moved within 50 points of the target, but hasn't yet clinched it. Markets have moved higher in response to optimism over Trump's proposed spending plans. Trump's administration, viewed as Wall Street friendly, has already backed deregulation, infrastructure spending and tax cuts.

Source: TheStreet