Thursday, March 18, 2010

Indications: U.S. stock futures edge up on tame inflation data

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

By Steve Goldstein & Kate Gibson, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures shed light losses Thursday to turn mildly higher after the government reported consumer prices held unchanged in February, backing the Federal Reserve's view of tame inflation.

Stock futures turned higher after the Labor Department reported a flat reading on its consumer price index last month, with declining energy costs offsetting hikes in the price of cars, medical care and food. See detailed report.

"Inflationary pressures remain quite tame, supporting the FOMC's still benign outlook," analysts at Action Economics said of the Federal Open Markets Committee, which on Tuesday opted to keep its benchmark rate at historic lows, with inflation viewed as less of a threat than any moves that might curb the economic recovery.

Separately, the count of people applying for jobless benefits fell by 5,000 last week. Read more about the employment market.

S&P 500 futures gained half a point to 1,161.50 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose two points to 1,936. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 19 points to 10,745.

TODAY'S INTERNATIONAL MARKET STORIES

Global Dow

• MarketWatch Topics: Greece • 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 53366

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude-oil futures fell slightly but remained above $82 a barrel, while gold futures were down 20 cents at $1,124.00 an ounce.

The low-volume rally continued Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 47 points for its seventh straight gain and 12th rise in 14 sessions. Gains also were made for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite.

For some, the rally appears on its last legs.

Citigroup cut its stance on the global financial sector to neutral from overweight.

"Global equities typically grind higher in months 12 to 36 of a market recovery. So buy the dips and don't chase the rallies too hard," they said.

Data due later in the session includes the Philly Fed index for March and February leading indicators, due at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Growing indications Greece may turn to the International Monetary Fund rather than fellow euro-zone nations for support helped drag the euro lower, as well as share prices for lenders including National Bank of Greece /quotes/comstock/13*!nbg/quotes/nls/nbg (NBG 4.01, -0.30, -6.96%) , which will be reporting results after the Athens close. See full story.

Standard & Poor's however upped its outlook on India to stable from negative as it affirmed that country's BBB- rating.

On the corporate news front, Pfizer /quotes/comstock/13*!pfe/quotes/nls/pfe (PFE 17.20, -0.01, -0.06%) lost out to Teva Pharmaceutical /quotes/comstock/15*!teva/quotes/nls/teva (TEVA 61.87, +1.93, +3.22%) in the auction for Ratiopharm, a German generic drug maker. Teva is paying about $5 billion.

Teva shares rose more than 4% in premarket trade. Pfizer edged up 0.8%.

Nike /quotes/comstock/13*!nke/quotes/nls/nke (NKE 74.94, +4.06, +5.73%) rose 4.4% after the sneaker maker more than doubled its third-quarter profit and said orders climbed 9%.

GlaxoSmithKline /quotes/comstock/13*!gsk/quotes/nls/gsk (GSK 38.79, +0.99, +2.62%) advanced in London after Novartis /quotes/comstock/13*!nvs/quotes/nls/nvs (NVS 54.55, -0.27, -0.49%) relinquished U.S. rights to a generic version of Glaxo's Advair.

FedEx /quotes/comstock/13*!fdx/quotes/nls/fdx (FDX 90.37, +0.57, +0.63%) dropped 1.9%. While it hiked its fourth-quarter earnings outlook, it also increased its investment in Boeing 777s and reinstated employee compensation programs that will dampen earnings growth in fiscal fourth quarter and next year. See full story.

The Nikkei 225 dropped 1% in Tokyo, while Europe equities fell marginally.

Steve Goldstein is MarketWatch's London bureau chief. Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.


Indications: U.S. stock futures edge lower after recent rally

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

By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures were a touch lower Thursday, on concern over the duration of a recent rally and on euro-zone nations' reluctance to back Greece's debt-reduction efforts.

S&P 500 futures fell 1.2 points to 1,159.80 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell a half point to 1,933.50. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1 point.

TODAY'S INTERNATIONAL MARKET STORIES

Global Dow

• MarketWatch Topics: Greece • 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 53366

The low-volume rally continued Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 47 points for its seventh straight gain and 12th rise in 14 sessions. Gains also were made for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite.

For some, the rally appears on its last legs.

Citigroup cut its stance on the global financial sector to neutral from overweight.

"Global equities typically grind higher in months 12 to 36 of a market recovery. So buy the dips and don't chase the rallies too hard," they said.

Thursday's session features data on weekly jobless claims and February consumer prices, due for release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, and Philly Fed index for March and February leading indicators, due at 10 a.m.

Growing indications Greece may turn to the International Monetary Fund rather than fellow euro-zone nations for support helped drag the euro lower, as well as share prices for lenders including National Bank of Greece /quotes/comstock/13*!nbg/quotes/nls/nbg (NBG 4.31, -0.14, -3.15%) , which will be reporting results after the Athens close.

Standard & Poor's however upped its outlook on India to stable from negative as it affirmed that country's BBB- rating.

On the corporate news front, Pfizer /quotes/comstock/13*!pfe/quotes/nls/pfe (PFE 17.21, -0.05, -0.29%) lost out to Teva Pharmaceutical /quotes/comstock/15*!teva/quotes/nls/teva (TEVA 59.94, -0.40, -0.66%) in the auction for Ratiopharm, a German generic drug maker. Teva is paying about $5 billion.

Teva shares rose more than 2% in premarket trade. Pfizer edged up 0.3%.

Nike /quotes/comstock/13*!nke/quotes/nls/nke (NKE 70.88, +0.50, +0.71%) rose close to 4% after the sneaker maker more than doubled its third-quarter profit and said orders climbed 9%.

GlaxoSmithKline /quotes/comstock/13*!gsk/quotes/nls/gsk (GSK 37.80, +0.01, +0.03%) advanced in London after Novartis /quotes/comstock/13*!nvs/quotes/nls/nvs (NVS 54.82, -0.04, -0.07%) relinquished U.S. rights to a generic version of Glaxo's Advair.

FedEx /quotes/comstock/13*!fdx/quotes/nls/fdx (FDX 89.80, +1.17, +1.32%) dropped more than 3%. While it hiked its fourth-quarter earnings outlook, it also increased its investment in Boeing 777s and reinstated employee compensation programs that will dampen earnings growth in fiscal fourth quarter and next year.

The Nikkei 225 dropped 1% in Tokyo, while Europe equities fell marginally.

Steve Goldstein is MarketWatch's London bureau chief.


NYSE Arca Morning Update - 08:30:00 ET

NYSE Arca Morning Update for Thursday, Mar 18, 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
No symbols with at least a 15% price change today

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 $47,012,049 $117.02 ( 0.1%) | C 8,648,341 $4.07 0.5%
C $35,057,967 $4.07 0.5% | HIG 808,237 $28.81 0.8%
FDX $26,127,675 $87.25 ( 2.8%) | DPTR 430,377 $1.62 18.5%
HIG $23,100,906 $28.81 0.8% | SPY 401,870 $117.02 ( 0.1%)
TEVA $14,989,227 $62.60 4.4% | FDX 300,321 $87.25 ( 2.8%)
GLD $12,895,477 $110.28 0.6% | BAC 258,526 $17.21 ( 0.3%)
IWM $6,212,082 $68.40 ( 0.1%) | TEVA 239,575 $62.60 4.4%
BHP $6,114,720 $80.45 0.7% | PFE 214,236 $17.40 1.2%
QQQQ $4,765,850 $47.67 0.0% | FAZ 190,388 $13.77 0.5%
BAC $4,446,305 $17.21 ( 0.3%) | F 175,757 $14.19 0.6%


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

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