Stock Futures Creep Higher After Manchester Bombing Sets Markets on Edge

New York (May 23)  Stock futures saw small, cautious gains on Tuesday, trading in line with European markets, after a bombing at a Manchester, England, concert set Wall Street on edge. 

S&P 500 futures were up 0.15%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increased 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures grew 0.18%.

The deadly attack at an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena late Monday claimed 22 lives, injured as many as 60 more, and is being treated as a terrorist incident, a spokesman for the Greater Manchester Police has confirmed. The attacker died at the scene after using a self-detonating explosive in the 21,000-seat capacity arena. Police are investigating whether he acted alone or with assistance.

The incident is the deadliest terrorist attack on British soil since July 2005, when Muslim extremists killed 52 people with three separate suicide bombs across London's transport system at the height of the morning rush-hour commute.

European markets were higher, largely following substantial gains in U.S. equities a day earlier. Germany's DAX rose 0.54%, the CAC 40 in France increased 0.69%, and the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.17%. 

Wall Street rose on Monday after a series of deals with Saudi Arabia lifted defense stocks. The S&P 500 ended the day less than 10 points from its all-time closing record achieved a week earlier. Shares of Lockheed Martin (LMT) and Dow component Boeing (BA) rose Monday after both companies were seen walking away as winners from the weekend's Saudi deals bonanza, which saw Donald Trump and representatives for American companies inking more than $350 billion of deals.

Source: TheStreet