Stock Futures Waver After U.S. Manufacturing Data

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were wavering Tuesday as investors weighed ongoing concerns about the eurozone against mixed global manufacturing data.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were rising by 10 points, or 8.46 points below fair value, at 12,655. Futures for the S&P 500 were up by 1 point, or less than a point below fair value, at 1344, and futures for the Nasdaq 100 were rising 7 points, or 2.52 points above fair value, at 2586.

U.S. stocks finished with deep losses Monday as questions about Greece's ability to live up to austerity measures and soaring Spanish bond yields reignited investor frustration about the pace of progress in the eurozone.

Officials from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund arrive in Athens Tuesday and begin their audit of Greece's progress in meeting the terms of its bailout agreements.

Meantime, Moody's decided late Monday to slash the outlook on Germany's triple-A rating to negative from stable, thanks to European uncertainties.

Earlier Tuesday, Markit Economics reported its preliminary purchasing managers index for the eurozone, which was unchanged at 46.4 in July, pointing to a sixth month of contraction. The preliminary July PMI for Germany slipped to 47.3 from 48.1 in June.

Both the FTSE in London and the DAX in Germany were trading sideways.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng finished down 0.79% and the Nikkei in Japan closed down 0.24% on Tuesday.

Markit Economics said that the July Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index indicated the weakest improvement in domestic manufacturing sector business conditions in 19 months. The preliminary "flash" reading was based on around 85% of usual monthly replies. At 51.8, down from 52.5 in June, the headline index was the second-lowest since the manufacturing recovery was first signaled by the PMI in late-2009.

The U.S. calendar Tuesday also includes data on manufacturing activity in the Richmond area at 10 a.m. and the Federal Housing Finance Agency's housing price index for May at the same time.

A bright spot in the macro picture Tuesday has been HSBC's monthly survey of Chinese manufacturers, which showed that contraction in manufacturing eased in July. The bank's Purchasing Managers' Index, which combines various measures of manufacturing activity, rose to 49.5 from 48.2; readings above 50 indicate growth.

September crude oil futures were trading sideways at $88.12 a barrel. August gold futures were nudging lower by $4.80 at $1,572.60 an ounce.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury was down 2/32, raising the yield to 1.443%, while the greenback was up 0.17%, according to the dollar index.

In corporate news,Apple (AAPL), the iPhone, iPad and iPod maker, delivers its much-anticipated fiscal third-quarter report after the closing bell Tuesday and analysts are calling for earnings of $10.36 a share on revenue of $37.23 billion.

DuPont (DD) reported a decline in second-quarter earnings on weak volumes. Adjusted earnings were $1.48 a share on revenue of $11 billion, versus the average analysts expectation of earnings of $1.46 a share on revenue of $11.25 billion.

Netflix (NFLX) is seen by analysts Tuesday posting a profit of 5 cents a share in the June-ended quarter on revenue of $888.9 million.

Netflix previously forecast 23.6 million to 24.2 million total U.S. subscriptions in the quarter vs. the 23.2 million total with which it finished the first quarter.

Shipping giant United Parcel Service (UPS) missed second-quarter estimates and cut its 2012 outlook.

VMware (VMW) announced a deal Monday to acquire network virtualization software maker Nicira for more than $1 billion in cash.

Cisco (CSCO) said Monday it plans to cut 2% of its work force in the latest phase of its long-running restructuring effort.

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-- Written by Andrea Tse in New York.



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