Futures Point to Uptick for Stocks
Stock index futures were indicating a moderately higher open as the U.S. dollar recovered a day after the
Federal Reserve
eased interest rates again.
S&P 500
futures were up 2 points to 1388 and were roughly 2 points above fair value. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 were rising 4 points to 1927.50 and were about 4.50 points above fair value.
Last time out, stocks mostly traded higher on positive gross domestic product data, but ended slightly to the downside after the Fed took a quarter-point off the fed funds target rate without firmly stating it would end its easing campaign.
At the end of the day, the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
slipped 12 points to 12,820. The
S&P 500
shed 5 points to 1386, and the
Nasdaq Composite
surrendered 13 points to 2413.
As the new day began, however, the dollar took back some of the losses from the previous session. The greenback was up 0.7% against the euro at $1.5533 and was fetching 104.06 yen, a gain of 0.2%.
Simultaneously, crude oil slipped 21 cents to $113.25 a barrel, and gold ticked up $2.70 to $867.80 an ounce.
On the corporate front,
Tyco International
(TYC)
roughly doubled its adjusted first-quarter profit to $326 million, or 67 cents a share, and was well ahead of the average analyst estimate from Thomson Financial.
Pharmacy chain
CVS Caremark
(CVS) - Get Report
said same-store sales rose 3.9% as first-quarter earnings climbed to 55 cents a share, in line with expectations.
Elsewhere,
Starbucks
(SBUX) - Get Report
was adding 0.6% in the premarket even though the coffee giant said 2008 earnings should come in lower than last year's 87 cents a share. For the first quarter, the company posted a bottom line that met Wall Street targets, though sales were a bit short.
As for economic data, the Labor Department is due to release its weekly jobless claims report at 8:30 a.m. EDT. The Commerce Department will come out with consumer-spending numbers at the same time, and car and truck sales are also on tap.
The Institute for Supply Management's national manufacturing data and the Commerce Department's construction-spending numbers are each scheduled for 10 a.m. EDT.
Treasury prices were slipping. The 10-year note was down 2/32 in price to yield 3.74%, and the 30-year bond lost 5/32 in price, yielding 4.48%.
As for overseas bourses, most major markets were closed for the May Day holiday.