Stock futures up ahead of jobs report

Stock futures up ahead of jobs report
Major market index futures were up ahead of regular trading Wednesday, as investors await an employment report that will help shed light on whether or not the American jobs market is improving after a sluggish winter.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index futures were up 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite index futures rose 0.2%, while Dow Jones industrial average index futures made modest gains.
On Tuesday, the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index rallied 13.18 pts or 0.7%, to close at 1885.52, eclipsing its prior March 7 record of 1878.04. It was the seventh record close of 2014. The Dow rose 75.01 points, or 0.5%, to 16,532.67, and is within 44 points of its Dec. 31, 2013, record closing high of 16,576.66. The Nasdaq composite posted big gains, too, rallying 69.05 points, or 1.6%, to 4268.04.
TUESDAY: S&P 500 closes at new closing high
A key factor in the market's recent rally has been the increase of foreign investors buying up U.S. stocks. If they continue to gobble up Wall Street shares, U.S. stocks indexes should continue to make gains.
MORE: Foreign demand for stocks could bolster rally