By Polya Lesova and Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) â" U.S. stock futures edged up Monday, the start of a heavy earnings week, as results from McDonaldâs Corp. matched Wall Streetâs expectations.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/21b!f:dj\h11 (DJH11 11,930, +108.00, +0.91%) Â gained 11 points to 11,833, and S&P 500 futures /quotes/comstock/21m!f:sp\h11 (SPH11 1,287, +7.60, +0.59%) Â were up 2.1 points to 1,281.80.
Shares of fast-food giant McDonaldâs /quotes/comstock/13*!mcd/quotes/nls/mcd (MCD 75.42, +0.41, +0.55%) Â slipped 1% after the Dow component reported fourth-quarter revenue in line with expectations.
Nasdaq 100 futures /quotes/comstock/21m!f:nd\h11 (NDH11 2,299, +29.50, +1.30%) Â added 3 points to 2,272.
On Friday, the blue-chip Dow index /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (DJIA 11,956, +84.42, +0.71%) Â ended up 0.4%, gaining 0.7% for the week and finishing higher for the eighth week in a row.
No major economic data were scheduled for release Monday, so the spotlight will fall on a string of high-profile quarterly reports.
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âWith the lack of economic data, a lot of trading will be around technicals today,â said Christian Tegllund Blaabjerg, chief equity strategist at Saxo Bank.
A break below the 10-day moving average for the S&P 500 index /quotes/comstock/21z!i1:in\x (SPX 1,289, +6.03, +0.47%) Â could trigger profit-taking, he said.
âIn order for this [market] trend to keep going higher, we need some solid earnings,â Blaabjerg added.
Oilfield-services group Halliburton Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!hal/quotes/nls/hal (HAL 39.67, +0.48, +1.22%) Â reported sharp increases in fourth-quarter profit and revenue from the year-earlier period. Shares of Halliburton gained 1% in premarket trading.
After the market closes, credit-card firm American Express Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!axp/quotes/nls/axp (AXP 45.77, -0.23, -0.50%) Â and semiconductor company Texas Instruments Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!txn/quotes/nls/txn (TXN 34.37, +0.46, +1.36%) Â will release their results.
Transportation firm CSX Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!csx/quotes/nls/csx (CSX 67.54, -0.10, -0.15%) Â is also due to report quarterly results.
In premarket trading, U.S.-listed shares of Royal Philips Electronics /quotes/comstock/13*!phg/quotes/nls/phg (PHG 31.74, -1.70, -5.08%) Â /quotes/comstock/24s!e:phia (NL:PHIA 23.23, -1.34, -5.45%) Â slumped after the Dutch electronics group reported quarterly profit that missed market expectations.
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/conga/story/misc/markets.html 118590Rock Tenn Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!rkt/quotes/nls/rkt (RKT 59.13, +1.95, +3.41%) Â said it will buy packaging firm Smurfit Stone Container Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!sscc/quotes/nls/sscc (SSCC 34.92, +7.40, +26.89%) Â in a deal worth about $3.5 billion.
Pharmaceutical major Sanofi-Aventis SA /quotes/comstock/13*!sny/quotes/nls/sny (SNY 34.62, +0.09, +0.26%) Â /quotes/comstock/24s!e:san (FR:SAN 50.98, +0.11, +0.22%) Â said it has extended its offer for Genzyme Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!genz/quotes/nls/genz (GENZ 71.36, -0.22, -0.31%) Â until Feb. 15. All other terms and conditions of the $69-a-share offer remain unchanged.
Department-store operator J.C. Penney Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!jcp/quotes/nls/jcp (JCP 32.35, +2.01, +6.62%) Â announced restructuring measures that include closing several stores.
In Asia, Japanâs Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.7%, while Chinaâs Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.7% as concerns about further policy tightening continued to weigh on the market.
European equities were mostly lower, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index /quotes/comstock/22c!sxxp (ST:STOXX600 281.99, +0.73, +0.26%) Â falling 0.2% in intraday trading.
Polya Lesova is chief of MarketWatchâs London bureau. Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.
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