Thursday, January 21, 2010

Indications: U.S. stock futures fall; jobless claims disappoint

Stock Assault 2.0 - Artificial Intelligence Stock Market Software Alert Email Print

By Barbara Kollmeyer & Kate Gibson, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock market futures dipped Thursday, extending the prior day's fall, after an unexpected rise in weekly jobless claims dented earlier cheer over better-than-expected earnings reports from Xerox and others.

Mostly flat ahead of the early economic report, futures for the major indexes declined in its wake. S&P 500 were off nearly 1 point at 1,133, while those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 20 points at 10,537.

Futures for the Nasdaq 100 declined almost 1 point at 1,866.25.

The Labor Department reported first-time claims for state unemployment benefits jumped by 36,000 to 438,000 last week. Consensus forecasts called for claims to edge lower to 482,000.

A slew of earnings were driving up selected names in preopen activity. Goldman Sachs /quotes/comstock/13*!gs/quotes/nls/gs (GS 167.79, +0.93, +0.56%) posted a nearly $5 billion profit for the fourth quarter as the company highlighted a tighter compensation ratio. Goldman shares rose 0.6% in premarket trade.

Fifth Third /quotes/comstock/15*!fitb/quotes/nls/fitb (FITB 11.31, -0.08, -0.70%) reported a narrower fourth-quarter loss, sending shares up 6.1%.

Aside from a slew of banks reporting, focus could also fall on the sector after a report in The Wall Street Journal that U.S. President Barack Obama will propose on Thursday new limits on the size of banks and the risks they may take.

Aside from banks, Xerox /quotes/comstock/13*!xrx/quotes/nls/xrx (XRX 8.89, -0.13, -1.44%) beat forecasts with earnings of 20 cents a share for the fourth quarter as it set a slightly higher-than-expected full-year view. Shares were up 1.8%.

A handful of companies that reported late Wednesday were also benefiting in preopen action. Seagate Technology /quotes/comstock/15*!stx/quotes/nls/stx (STX 17.76, -0.40, -2.20%) jumped nearly 11% on news it swung to a quarterly profit, while shares of eBay /quotes/comstock/15*!ebay/quotes/nls/ebay (EBAY 22.23, -1.03, -4.43%) were up 8.4% after better-than-expected quarterly earnings released. Starbucks /quotes/comstock/15*!sbux/quotes/nls/sbux (SBUX 23.29, -0.29, -1.23%) rose 3% in preopen trade after posting a positive reading on same-store sales.

On the downside, shares of navigation device maker Garmin /quotes/comstock/15*!grmn/quotes/nls/grmn (GRMN 36.15, -1.01, -2.72%) fell over 6% in preopen after Nokia /quotes/comstock/13*!nok/quotes/nls/nok (NOK 13.00, -0.24, -1.81%) said it would provide free navigation on its higher-end mobile phones.

Concerns about Greece's ability to meet its borrowing needs without outside help, along with a fresh warning on Portugal's budget situation, helped pushed the euro to another five-month low versus the dollar and dented Greek stocks and bonds. Investors ignore Greece's budget reassurances

On Wednesday, the dollar soared while stock markets and commodities took a hit as investors sought safety on fears of rising borrowing costs globally, on worries over a possible cutback in lending by Chinese banks and the hefty price that Greece may have to meet to bolster its troubled economy.

Gold futures were slipping, down $6 to $1,106.60 an ounce, while crude oil futures were up 18 cents at $77.92 a barrel.

Asia markets saw a muted reaction overnight, closing marginally lower, after data showing China's economy expanded 10.7% in the fourth quarter, slightly ahead of expectations and fuelling worries over further tightening measures. China's consumer-price index rose 1.9% in December, while the monthly producer-price index also ended a year-long declining trend to grow 1.7%, with both well above forecasts.

Economic data scheduled in the U.S. for Thursday includes weekly jobless claims, due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, and December leading indicators and the January Philly Fed survey, due at 10.

Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid. Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.


NYSE Arca Morning Update - 08:30:00 ET

NYSE Arca Morning Update for Thursday, Jan 21, 2010 :

STOCKS TRADING ON NYSE Arca AT A PRICE 15% OR MORE AWAY FROM
THE PREVIOUS TRADE DAY'S CONSOLIDATED CLOSE PRICE (AS OF 08:30:00 ET)

Stock Wednesday's Close Current Price Pct Change Current NYSE ARCA Vol
BRK.B $3,472.00 $70.70 (98.0%) 55,187


10 MOST ACTIVE STOCKS ON NYSE ARCA AS OF 08:30:00 ET

BASED ON DOLLARS TRADED: | BASED ON SHARES TRADED:
Stock $ Volume Price PctChg | Stock Share Vol Price PctChg
SPY $153543885 $114.01 0.1% | C 9,664,277 $3.45 ( 0.3%)
GS $153252256 $169.74 1.1% | SPY 1,347,050 $114.01 0.1%
C $33,470,145 $3.45 ( 0.3%) | GS 905,899 $169.74 1.1%
IWM $15,097,607 $63.95 0.0% | BAC 580,974 $16.52 0.2%
QQQQ $13,510,215 $46.05 0.3% | EBAY 443,023 $24.36 9.7%
GLD $10,919,174 $108.30 ( 0.6%) | QQQQ 293,841 $46.05 0.3%
EBAY $10,711,302 $24.36 9.7% | SNSS 261,169 $1.42 7.6%
BAC $9,593,050 $16.52 0.2% | IWM 236,169 $63.95 0.0%
AAPL $5,837,553 $211.85 0.1% | STX 218,472 $19.70 10.9%
FCX $5,837,292 $83.18 ( 0.5%) | BBI 211,800 $0.57 (21.9%)


Price changes may be affected by symbol splits and dividends.

Consolidated close price is the last print (excluding prints with trade
conditions) prior to 4PM ET.

This information is also updated on our web page every morning at 8:35ET:
http://www.tradearca.com/data/volume/daily_update.asp

This material is for informational purposes only.
NYSE Euronext and its affiliates ("NYSE Arca") are not soliciting any action based upon it.
This material is not to be construed as an offer to buy or sell any security in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal.
Any opinions expressed in this material are NYSE Arca opinions only.
NYSE Arca undertakes no obligation to update any of the information contained in this material in light of new information or future events.
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Copyright [2010] by NYSE Euronext. All rights reserved. Reproduction and redistribution prohibited without prior express consent.

Indications: U.S. stock futures drift after Wednesday's tumble

Stock Assault 2.0 - Artificial Intelligence Stock Market Software Alert Email Print

By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

MADRID (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock market futures drifted lower on Thursday as investors face earnings from big names such as Goldman Sachs and Xerox, as well as economic reports after strong growth data out of China.

Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.5 points to 1,133.50, while those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 15 points at 10,557.

Futures for the Nasdaq 100 were down 3.25 points at 1,863.75.

On Wednesday, the dollar soared while stock markets and commodities took a hit as investors sought safety on fears of rising borrowing costs globally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a 122.28-point decline, the biggest drop since December 17. The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 Index fell by 1.3% and 1%, respectively.

TODAY'S INTERNATIONAL MARKET STORIES

Global Dow

• MarketWatch Topics: The Dubai Crisis • Asia Markets | Europe Markets | LatAm Markets • Canadian Markets | Israel Stocks | London • U.S.: Market Snapshot | After Hours

Tools• Latin American/Canadian indexes • European indexes | Asian indexes

More on the Markets • Bond Report | Oil News | Earnings Watch • Currencies | U.S. Economic Calendar

/conga/story/misc/international.html 45984

Investors focused on a possible cutback in lending by Chinese banks and the hefty price that Greece may have to meet to bolster its troubled economy.

On Thursday, U.S. markets will have to contend with fresh data that showed China's economy expanded 10.7% in the fourth quarter, slightly ahead of expectations, fuelling worries over further tightening measures. China's consumer-price index rose 1.9% in December, while the monthly producer-price index also ended a year-long declining trend to grow 1.7%, with both well above forecasts.

Asia markets saw a muted reaction overnight, closing marginally lower.

"Markets in Asia haven't really reacted notably to the data but in recent days we have seen a delayed Western market response to news out of China so it's certainly one to watch today," said analysts at Deutsche Bank.

Economic data scheduled in the U.S. for Thursday includes weekly jobless claims and December producer prices, both at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

Away from data and key earnings are on tap for Thursday. A slew of financial companies will report ahead of the opening bell, including Goldman Sachs /quotes/comstock/13*!gs/quotes/nls/gs (GS 167.79, +0.93, +0.56%) Comerica /quotes/comstock/13*!cma/quotes/nls/cma (CMA 33.57, +0.53, +1.60%) , Fifth Third /quotes/comstock/15*!fitb/quotes/nls/fitb (FITB 11.31, -0.08, -0.70%) , Capital One /quotes/comstock/13*!cof/quotes/nls/cof (COF 43.02, +0.01, +0.02%) , Legg Mason /quotes/comstock/13*!lm/quotes/nls/lm (LM 31.43, +0.64, +2.08%) and KeyCorp /quotes/comstock/13*!key/quotes/nls/key (KEY 6.96, +0.20, +2.96%) .

Xerox /quotes/comstock/13*!xrx/quotes/nls/xrx (XRX 8.89, -0.13, -1.44%) , UnitedHealth Group /quotes/comstock/13*!unh/quotes/nls/unh (UNH 34.55, -0.58, -1.65%) , and airlines such as Continental /quotes/comstock/13*!cal/quotes/nls/cal (CAL 20.62, +0.19, +0.93%) and Southwest Airlines /quotes/comstock/13*!luv/quotes/nls/luv (LUV 11.33, +0.03, +0.27%) will also report.

Deficit fears continued to drag Greek stocks south, with banks leading the decline after a newspaper reported that Greece's budget deficit could be revised up to between 13% to 15% of GDP, though other European indexes made slight rises

The dollar continued to gain ground against the euro, which wasn't helped by an unexpected slowdown in the expansion in Europe's service and manufacturing industries in January.

Gold futures were slipping, down $9.50 to $1,103.10 an ounce, while crude oil futures were down 7 cents at $77.67 a barrel.

Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid.


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