Market Morning: Rising GDP
NEW YORK (
) -- U.S. stock futures were higher ahead of quarterly growth figures from the U.S., but European stocks were slipping as Greek debt relief talks were to resume Friday.
Asian stocks ended mostly higher, with South Korea and Hong Kong posting mild gains. But Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.1% to 8,841.22.
Stocks fell in the U.S. on Thursday
as disappointing housing numbers and weak jobless data overshadowed strong earnings from the likes of
Caterpillar
(CAT) - Get Report
and
3M
(MMM) - Get Report
.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
dropped 22.3 points, or 0.2%, to 12,735. The
S&P 500
fell 7.6 points, or 0.6%, to 1,318, and the
Nasdaq
fell 13 points, or 0.5%, to 2,805.
The economic calendar in the U.S. on Friday includes the first read on fourth-quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m. EST. The consensus estimate, according to Briefing.com, is for growth of 3.2% vs. third-quarter growth of 1.8%.
Friday also will see the release of the University of Michigan's final read on consumer sentiment for January at 9:55 a.m.
Earnings are expected Friday from consumer products giant >B>Procter & Gamble
(PG) - Get Report
and automaker
Ford
(F) - Get Report
.
Starbucks'
(SBUX) - Get Report
outlook for fiscal 2012 came in short of the consensus view
.
The Seattle-based coffee seller said Thursday it expects earnings of $1.78 to $1.82 a share for the full year, slightly below analysts' expectations for profit of $1.83 a share. The company said it expects "unfavorable" commodity costs to impact results this year with the brunt of the impact coming in the first half of the year.
Directors of
3M
(MMM) - Get Report
, the industrial conglomerate, have failed to agree on a succession plan, even though the contract of Chairman and CEO George Buckley is due to expire in a month when he turns 65, the typical retirement age for top 3M executives,
The Wall Street Journal
reported.
Some directors at the maker of sticky-notes want to extend Buckley's contract, while others don't, a person familiar with the situation told the newspaper.
South Korea's
Samsung
said fourth-quarter profit rose 17% on strong sales of smartphones.
Samsung said net profit was 4 trillion won ($3.5 billion) in the three months ended in December. The company earned 3.4 trillion won a year earlier.
-- Written by Joseph Woelfel
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Joseph Woelfel
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.
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