US stock futures surge after Intel tops forecasts

NEW YORK — U.S. stock futures are surging, driven higher by a better-than-expected sales forecast from chip maker Intel Corp.

Overseas markets also rose sharply Wednesday, buoyed by news that the decline in China’s exports slowed in September.

Stocks got an early boost from Intel, which reported its third-quarter results after the market closed Tuesday. Though both its profit and sales dipped 8 percent, results surpassed Wall Street’s estimates. The company also said it expects sales in the final period of the year to top analyst projections.

The rise in global markets Wednesday comes as the dollar slumped to a fresh 14-month low against other major currencies. The decline sent gold to a new record high of $1,072 an ounce, and oil prices soared above $75 a barrel for the first time in a year.

Treasury prices fell as investors abandoned safe-haven assets for stocks and commodities.

The early gains in stock futures followed the market’s modest losses on Tuesday after a disappointing decline in sales at Johnson & Johnson fanned fears that businesses and consumers are still curbing their spending. Intel’s report helped ease some of those worries.

Ahead of the market’s open, Dow Jones industrial average futures are up 104 at 9,913. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures are up 13 at 1,082, while Nasdaq 100 index futures are up 21 at 1,748.

In Asia, China’s Shanghai index rose 1.2 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 2 percent. Japan’s Nikkei index slipped 0.2 percent. In late morning trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.7 percent, Germany’s DAX index was up 1.9 percent, and France’s CAC-40 rallied 1.7 percent.

The ICE Futures U.S. dollar index, which tracks the dollar against other major currencies, fell 0.6 percent, after earlier hitting its lowest point since August 2008.

Oil prices rose to as high as $75.15 and recently traded up 70 cents at $74.85 a barrel in pre-market trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.36 percent from 3.35 percent late Tuesday.