Futures Up Solid On Dealmaking, Basel III And Chinese Data (HPQ, ARST)

The futures are solidly higher this morning, on continued deal making in the tech sector, good news from data coming out of China, and better than expected Basel III requirements. Hewlett-Packard HPQ announced this morning that it was buying ArcSight ARST for $1.5 billion in cash, just days after it concluded its bidding war for 3PAR PAR. HP paid $43.50 a share for ArcSight. Shares are currently trading higher than this in the pre-market, indicating there is speculation that another bidder could emerge. Dell DELL may be a possible suitor, after it lost the bidding war for 3PAR. Also helping futures were weaker than expected capital requirements from the Basel III conference, held in Basel, Switzerland. The new requirements are in place to discourage the risky activities that started the 2008 economic crisis. International banks will need to raise the common equity requirement to at least 7% of assets, higher than than the 2% international standard or the 4% required in the U.S. They will have several years to phase in the new standards. This was seen as better than expected, as analysts has expected 9 or 10%. China showing a stronger-than-expected rise in industrial production, with inflation coming in at expectations, for a 3.5% tick up in inflation. Dow futures closed up 80 points S&P futures closed up 9 points, and the Nasdaq futures closed up about 15 points.