U.S. Futures Weighed Down by Gloomy Earnings Reports
Premarket futures were suggesting a lower open for stocks in New York Wednesday, as corporate earnings again took center stage and concerns of a global slowdown increased.
Futures for the
S&P 500
were down 19 points at 939 and were 15 points short of fair value.
Nasdaq
futures were 17 points lower at 1276 and were 12 below fair value.
On Tuesday, stocks sold off sharply into the close as traders took profits from Monday's rally and sorted through gloomy earnings statements from a wide variety of firms.
Following Tuesday's close,
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
reported a 26% increase in third-quarter earnings. Strong iPhone sales contributed to the improvement, but the company worked to temper expectations for the fourth quarter on a slowing economy.
Internet portal
Yahoo!
(YHOO)
also announced third-quarter earnings, saying profit declined 64%. The company also said it would cut at least 1,500 jobs this year.
Ahead of the new day's trading, oil-services company
Baker Hughes
(BHI)
said its profit increased 10% year over year.
Investors will be shoveling through a fresh pile of earnings statements. Aircraft maker
Boeing
(BA) - Get Report
and its rival,
Northrop Grumman
(NOC) - Get Report
are both slated to report.
Traders also will hear from telecom company
AT&T
(T) - Get Report
, integrated oil firm
ConocoPhillips
(COP) - Get Report
and regional bank
Wachovia
(WB) - Get Report
.
Fast-food provider
McDonald's
(MCD) - Get Report
also will announce its third-quarter results.
On a day that is rather light on economic data, the Energy Information Administration is set to release its crude-oil inventory figures for the week ended Oct. 18.
In commodities, crude oil was losing $2.79 to $69.39 a barrel. Gold gave back $10.30 to $757.70 an ounce.
Longer-dated U.S. Treasury securities were rising in price. The 10-year note was up 24/32, yielding 3.65%. The 30-year was gaining 1-18/32 to yield 4.13%. The dollar was rising vs. the euro and pound but weaker against the yen.
Overseas, European indices, including the FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt, were mainly trading lower. Asian markets also finished lower.
