Monday: Morning Trade Looks Quiet Ahead of CPI
By
Justin Lahart
Staff Reporter
After getting battered on Friday, traders expect a bit of a respite this morning.
"The oversold condition is allowing some relief here, so we'll have a little firming here," says one trader.
The market should be relatively quiet today, heating up tomorrow as the
Consumer Price Index
, and more earnings reports, come out.
As things stand now, the
S&P 500
futures, up about 1.50, are signaling a weak open. To reach fair value, they need to be up 3.95. The 30-year Treasury bond is down 1/32 at 93 11/32, driving the yield to 7.17%.
USA Waste
(UW)
announced that it will acquire
United Waste
(UWST)
in a stock deal worth about $1.7 billion.
The Wall Street Journal
reports that
Continental Airlines
(CAIB)
is in talks with
Boeing
(BE) - Get Report
. Continental could become the third airline to buy airplanes exclusively from Boeing.
General Motors
(GM) - Get Report
reported first-quarter earnings of $2.30 a share, well above
First Call
expectations of $2.09.
Coca-Cola
(KO) - Get Report
came in with first-quarter earnings of 40 cents a share, two cents above First Call estimates.
Goodyear Tire
(GT) - Get Report
announced first-quarter earnings of $1.09, two cents above First Call estimates.
Travelers
(TRV) - Get Report
reported first-quarter earnings of $1.00 a share, nine cents better than First Call estimates.
Novellus
(NVLS)
reported first-quarter earnings of 91 cents a share, two cents better than First Call estimates. The company said that it planned to appeal patent infringement verdict that
Applied Materials
(AMAT) - Get Report
won against it. Novellus warned that the damages that could be assessed against it could have a "material adverse impact on the company's financial condition."
Bank of New York
(
(BK) - Get Report
BK posted first-quarter earnings of 65 cents a share, two cents above First Call expectations.
Tokyo stocks dipped, prompted by Wall Street's declines on Friday. Despite more gains in the dollar, international blue-chips fell. Brokerages also fell on reports in the
Tokyo Shimbun
that the
Nomura
scandal has spread. The paper said that
Nikko
,
Daiwa
and
Yamaichi
were searched recently. Banks, led by
Nippon Credit Bank
. The
Nikkei
fell 154.41 to close at 17,692.47.
With their fortunes tied so closely to the U.S. market, Hong Kong stocks got battered badly. Leading the plummet were interest rate-sensitive property stocks. Those issues have already been under pressure -- investors have become concerned that the government may step in to curtail speculation in the territory's frothy real-estate market. The
Hang Seng
fell 220.63 to close at 12,295.97.
Frankfurt stocks also took their cues from Wall Street, trading down. Despite a stronger dollar, even export-oriented stocks posted losses. The
Dax
closed at 3279.89, down 60.15
In London, stocks fell sharply at the open, with the
FTSE
touching a low of 4,232.9. Since then, the market's taken back some of those losses. The
FTSE
is down 23.4 at 4247.30.
