Indications: U.S. stock futures edge up as May winds down

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By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures clung to slight gains Friday, with markets looking set for a quiet finish to what's been a volatile week after the release of several economic indicators.

Major index futures pared their already modest gains as economic data released ahead of Wall Street's open had U.S. personal income higher by 0.4% and spending holding flat in April.

S&P 500 futures rose 1.4 points to 1,102.5 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 2.25 points to 1,866.00.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 7 points.

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U.S. stocks rallied hard Thursday, on relief that China's denial that it would take action on its holdings of euro-denominated bonds. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 284 points, or 2.9%, in the second-biggest one-day advance of the year.

That said, the Dow industrials head into the final trading day of May with a 6.8% monthly decline.

Garry Evans, global head of equity strategy at HSBC, said the market turbulence of late is a normal correction and doesn't constitute a new bear market.

"While superficially stocks fell because of worries about European debt, to our mind the drop was more because of a convergence of negative factors such as a peaking of U.S. earnings momentum and shrinking liquidity, exacerbated by investment funds that had chased markets up in March and held too-low levels of cash," Evans said in a note to clients.

"In our view the cyclical upswing remains strong and the advantage of the recent wobble is that interest rates, even in emerging markets, will not go up soon."

Friday's data calendar later includes May readings of Chicago-area manufacturing activity and the final University of Michigan consumer confidence survey.

Among companies in the spotlight, Prudential PLC /quotes/comstock/13*!puk/quotes/nls/puk (PUK 15.65, -0.41, -2.54%) said it was in discussions with American International Group /quotes/comstock/13*!aig/quotes/nls/aig (AIG 35.73, -0.73, -2.00%) over the $35.5 billion acquisition of AIG-owned AIA.

Royal Dutch Shell /quotes/comstock/13*!rds.a/quotes/nls/rds.a (RDS.A 52.87, -0.14, -0.26%) said it paid $4.7 billion for a privately held owner of shale gas assets.

BP /quotes/comstock/13*!bp/quotes/nls/bp (BP 43.35, -2.03, -4.47%) was continuing its top-kill operation to stem the flow of oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill. Spill-related costs have reached $930 million, BP said.

Apple /quotes/comstock/15*!aapl/quotes/nls/aapl (AAPL 255.30, +1.95, +0.77%) climbed as it launched the iPad overseas and after published reports of a positive Bank of America Merrill Lynch broker note.

Overseas, the Nikkei 225 moved 1.2% higher in Tokyo and the Stoxx Europe 600 added 0.5%.

The U.S. dollar index /quotes/comstock/11j!i:dxy0 (DXY 86.26, +0.07, +0.08%) weakened 0.1% while yields on 10-year Treasury bonds /quotes/comstock/20m!i:tnx (TNX 33.22, -0.16, -0.48%) fell 4 basis points to 3.32%. Bond prices move inversely to their yields.

In energy dealings, crude-oil futures traded just under $75 a barrel.

Steve Goldstein is MarketWatch's London bureau chief.

NYSE Arca Morning Update - 08:30:00 ET

NYSE Arca Morning Update for Friday, May 28, 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 Thursday's Close Current Price Pct Change Current NYSE ARCA Vol
DJSPW $3.89 $2.13 (45.2%) 1,800
HEV $3.19 $3.90 22.4% 5,383
BCSI $28.82 $23.75 (17.6%) 46,933

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 $79,638,400 $110.83 0.0% | C 3,764,545 $4.03 0.3%
AAPL $42,306,364 $259.36 2.3% | SPY 717,758 $110.83 0.0%
BP $23,245,208 $43.76 ( 3.6%) | BP 529,235 $43.76 ( 3.6%)
QQQQ $16,535,088 $46.05 0.4% | QQQQ 358,743 $46.05 0.4%
C $15,185,315 $4.03 0.3% | NOK 278,513 $10.42 0.8%
IWM $14,733,986 $67.11 ( 0.0%) | SDS 261,093 $33.50 ( 0.1%)
SDS $8,729,336 $33.50 ( 0.1%) | IWM 219,156 $67.11 ( 0.0%)
EWZ $4,902,534 $63.56 ( 0.3%) | TZA 201,392 $6.60 ( 0.0%)
SPXU $3,521,076 $33.24 ( 0.3%) | AAPL 163,622 $259.36 2.3%
NOK $2,909,256 $10.42 0.8% | F 161,154 $12.09 0.8%

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.
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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 edge higher as May winds down

Alert Email Print

By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures leaned higher Friday, with markets looking set for a quiet finish to a volatile week ahead of the release of several economic indicators.

In the last trading day before a three-day break, S&P 500 futures rose 2.5 points to 1,103.60 and Nasdaq 100 futures added 3.5 points to 1,867.20.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 18 points.

Global Dow

• MarketWatch Topics: Greece • Asia Markets | Europe Markets | Lat. Am. • 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 79118

U.S. stocks rallied Thursday on relief that China denied it was going to take action on its holdings of euro-zone governments. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 284 points, or 2.9%, in the second-biggest one-day advance of the year.

That said, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is heading into the final trading day of May with a 6.8% monthly decline.

Garry Evans, global head of equity strategy at HSBC, said the market turbulence of late is a normal correction and not a new bear market.

"While superficially stocks fell because of worries about European debt, to our mind the drop was more because of a convergence of negative factors such as a peaking of U.S. earnings momentum and shrinking liquidity, exacerbated by investment funds that had chased markets up in March and held too low levels of cash," Evans said in a note to clients.

"In our view the cyclical upswing remains strong and the advantage of the recent wobble is that interest rates, even in emerging markets, will not go up soon."

Friday's data calendar includes personal income and spending for April, as well as May readings of a Chicago-area and the final University of Michigan consumer confidence survey.

Of companies in the spotlight, Prudential PLC /quotes/comstock/13*!puk/quotes/nls/puk (PUK 16.06, +1.56, +10.76%) said it was in discussions with American International Group /quotes/comstock/13*!aig/quotes/nls/aig (AIG 36.46, +2.41, +7.08%) over the $35.5 billion acquisition of AIA.

Royal Dutch Shell /quotes/comstock/13*!rds.a/quotes/nls/rds.a (RDS.A 53.01, +2.66, +5.28%) said it paid $4.7 billion for a privately held owner of Shale gas assets.

BP /quotes/comstock/13*!bp/quotes/nls/bp (BP 45.38, +2.97, +7.00%) was continuing its top-kill operation to stem the flow of oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill. Spill-related costs have reached $930 million, BP said.

Overseas, the Nikkei 225 added 1.2% in Tokyo and the Stoxx Europe 600 edged 0.4% higher.

The U.S. dollar index /quotes/comstock/11j!i:dxy0 (DXY 86.04, -0.15, -0.17%) weakened 0.3% while yields on 10-year Treasury bonds fell 4 basis points to 3.32%. Yields move in the opposite direction to prices.

Oil futures traded over $75 a barrel.

Steve Goldstein is MarketWatch's London bureau chief.