Indications: U.S. stock futures steady after GDP report

By Simon Kennedy and Kate Gibson, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) â€" U.S. stock futures were little changed on Friday after the government reported a jump in consumer spending and exports that had the economy growing 3.2% in the final quarter of 2010.

The rise in GDP fell short of the 3.5% expected by many analysts, and stock-index futures pared their already mild gains after the data.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/21b!f:dj\h11 (DJH11 11,820, -124.00, -1.04%)  slipped 1 point at 11,943. S&P 500 futures /quotes/comstock/21m!f:sp\h11 (SPH11 1,280, -16.30, -1.26%)  were up nearly 1 point at 1,296.

Futures for the Nasdaq 100 /quotes/comstock/21m!f:nd\h11 (NDH11 2,276, -47.50, -2.04%)  rose 4.25 points at 2,327.75.

Asia's week ahead: Sony, Honda

Third-quarter earnings reports from Honda and Sony, as well as an interest-rate decision from Australia will be a focus for Asia next week. MarketWatch's Lisa Twaronite reports.

Most U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (DJIA 11,854, -136.27, -1.14%)  again closed short of the elusive 12,000 level. The index hasn’t ended a session above 12,000 since June 19, 2008.

“When you consider the strength of the U.S. markets over the last two months, having risen a whopping 10% since the beginning of December, there comes a point when rising prices have to take a reality check,” said Simon Denham, head of spread betting firm Capital Spreads.

“Our clients are heavily short the indices, in particular the U.S. ones which have had the strongest run,” Denham added in an email.

Among stocks to watch, shares in Ford Motor Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!f/quotes/nls/f (F 16.09, -2.70, -14.37%)  slumped in premarket trading after the car maker reported adjusted earnings that missed Wall Street forecasts.

Amazon.com /quotes/comstock/15*!amzn/quotes/nls/amzn (AMZN 167.41, -17.04, -9.24%)  also dropped after the online bookseller’s operating margins fell short of market expectations. Read more on Amazon’s results.

Microsoft Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!msft/quotes/nls/msft (MSFT 27.67, -1.20, -4.16%)  will also be in focus after the software giant posted a slight drop in quarterly profit, but said revenue rose 5% thanks to strong demand for its Kinetic videogame device and Office software. Read more on Microsoft’s latest figures.

Honeywell International Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!hon/quotes/nls/hon (HON 54.84, -1.08, -1.93%)  said its fourth-quarter net income more than doubled to $369 million, or 47 cents a share, from $163 million, or 20 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

In international markets, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index /quotes/comstock/23i!i:ukx (UK:UKX 5,881, -83.71, -1.40%)  fell 1% in midday trading as losses for mining stocks weighed on the index.

Asian markets closed mostly lower, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 average dropping 1.1% as the market had its first chance to react to Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade Japanese sovereign debt.

Simon Kennedy is the City correspondent for MarketWatch in London. Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.

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Indications: Stock futures steady; Ford results disappoint

By Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) â€" U.S. stock futures held in a tight range Friday as investors waited on the sidelines ahead of figures on fourth-quarter economic growth, while Ford Motor Co. and Amazon.com both fell sharply in premarket trading.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/21b!f:dj\h11 (DJH11 11,954, +10.00, +0.08%)  rose 6 points to 11,950 and S&P 500 futures /quotes/comstock/21m!f:sp\h11 (SPH11 1,297, +1.50, +0.12%)  were up 0.10 of a point at 1,295.90.

Futures for the Nasdaq 100 /quotes/comstock/21m!f:nd\h11 (NDH11 2,328, +4.50, +0.19%)  rose 1.25 points at 2,324.25.

Asia's week ahead: Sony, Honda

Third-quarter earnings reports from Honda and Sony, as well as an interest-rate decision from Australia will be a focus for Asia next week. MarketWatch's Lisa Twaronite reports.

Most U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (DJIA 11,990, +4.39, +0.04%)  again closed short of the elusive 12,000 level. The index hasn’t ended a session above 12,000 since June 19, 2008.

“When you consider the strength of the U.S. markets over the last two months, having risen a whopping 10% since the beginning of December, there comes a point when rising prices have to take a reality check,” said Simon Denham, head of spread betting firm Capital Spreads.

“Our clients are heavily short the indices, in particular the U.S. ones which have had the strongest run,” Denham added in an email.

U.S. fourth-quarter gross domestic product will be announced at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, with economists polled by MarketWatch expecting growth to accelerate to an annual rate of 3.5% from 2.6% in the third quarter.

The dollar index /quotes/comstock/11j!i:dxy0 (DXY 77.82, +0.10, +0.12%)  was virtually flat at 77.679 ahead of the data.

Among stocks to watch, shares in Ford /quotes/comstock/13*!f/quotes/nls/f (F 18.79, +0.42, +2.29%)  slumped 7.2% in premarket trading after the car maker reported adjusted earnings that missed Wall Street forecasts.

Amazon.com /quotes/comstock/15*!amzn/quotes/nls/amzn (AMZN 184.45, +9.06, +5.17%)  dropped 8.7% in premarket trading after the online bookseller’s operating margins fell short of market expectations. Read more on Amazon’s results.

Microsoft Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!msft/quotes/nls/msft (MSFT 28.87, +0.09, +0.31%)  will also be in focus after the software giant posted a slight drop in quarterly profit, but said revenue rose 5% thanks to strong demand for its Kinetic videogame device and Office software. Read more on Microsoft’s latest figures.

Honeywell International Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!hon/quotes/nls/hon (HON 55.92, +0.15, +0.27%)  said Friday its fourth-quarter net income more than doubled to $369 million, or 47 cents a share, from $163 million, or 20 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Among companies still due to report earnings Friday, Dow component Chevron Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!cvx/quotes/nls/cvx (CVX 94.75, +0.11, +0.12%)  is expected to post a profit of $2.35 a share for the fourth quarter.

In international markets, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index /quotes/comstock/23i!i:ukx (UK:UKX 5,918, -47.58, -0.80%)  fell 1% in midday trading as losses for mining stocks weighed on the index.

Asian markets closed mostly lower, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 average dropping 1.1% as the market had its first chance to react to Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade Japanese sovereign debt.

Simon Kennedy is the City correspondent for MarketWatch in London.

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NYSE Arca Morning Update - 08:30:00 ET

NYSE Arca Morning Update for Friday, Jan 28, 2011 :

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
TMRK $14.05 $19.12 36.1% 761,393
OPLK $19.33 $24.99 29.3% 800
OPNT $25.57 $29.86 16.8% 300
SVVS $26.57 $30.79 15.9% 19,565
INFN $8.97 $7.57 (15.6%) 24,922

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
F $118996271 $17.72 ( 5.8%) | F 6,772,866 $17.72 ( 5.8%)
SPY $92,027,515 $130.01 0.0% | C 2,299,325 $4.84 0.4%
AMZN $24,492,435 $170.14 ( 7.8%) | TMRK 761,393 $19.12 36.1%
GM $16,225,543 $37.75 ( 2.4%) | BAC 716,832 $13.78 0.8%
TMRK $14,562,001 $19.12 36.1% | SPY 707,856 $130.01 0.0%
C $11,120,260 $4.84 0.4% | GM 428,427 $37.75 ( 2.4%)
BHP $10,448,058 $88.03 ( 1.5%) | SLE 297,140 $17.67 0.1%
BAC $9,863,450 $13.78 0.8% | BP 179,895 $46.40 ( 0.6%)
BP $8,320,281 $46.40 ( 0.6%) | DAR 175,550 $13.03 0.4%
EWZ $6,448,325 $74.20 0.1% | MSFT 156,727 $28.83 ( 0.2%)

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.
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