Index futures a limited market indicator.

(From AFX Europe (Focus))

NEW YORK (AFX) - Most Wall Street traders will tell you that one of the first things they look at before the market opens are the index futures that track the Dow Jones industrials and the Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq composite indexes.

The numbers flashing across television and computer screens in the hours before the opening bell can give investors a quick read on the market's mood. If the futures are up or down by a few points, the market's sentiment is generally weak, while a strong move up or down means there could be a major move at the open.

But that's for the first few minutes of trading. After that, anything …