Market Morning: Stocks Rise, Santorum Sweeps
NEW YORK (
) -- U.S. stock futures were signaling a higher open on Wall Street Wednesday despite a revenue miss from
Walt Disney
(DIS) - Get Report
.
European shares were rising as markets believe a deal for Greece to secure €130 billion ($170 billion) of bailout funds is drawing closer.
Asian stocks finished with gains Wednesday as the yen retreated. The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo gained 1.1% to close at 9,015.59, its highest finish since Oct. 28.
In the U.S. on Tuesday,
. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
rose 33.1 points, or 0.3%, to 12,878. More than half of the 30 components on the blue-chip index traded higher.
The
S&P 500
gained 2.7 points, or 0.2%, to 1347. The
Nasdaq
finished up 2.1 points, or 0.1%, at 2904, helped by
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
, which set an all-time high at over $468 a share.
Dow component Walt Disney posted below-consensus revenue in its fiscal first quarter.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, the media and entertainment giant earned $1.46 billion, or 80 cents a share, on revenue of $10.78 billion. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters was for earnings of 71 cents a share on revenue of $11.18 billion.
Disney's studio entertainment unit saw a year-over-year revenue decline of 16% to $1.62 billion in the latest quarter from $1.93 billion a year earlier.
Cisco
(CSCO) - Get Report
, the networking-equipment maker, is expected by analysts to earn 43 cents a share on revenue of $11.23 billion in its fiscal second quarter. It reports earnings after the closing bell Wednesday.
An in-line performance would be up from revenue of $10.4 billion and earnings of 37 cents a share a year earlier.
J.P. Morgan noted that the weakness
suffered in 2011 is unlikely to be repeated in 2012, and predicted more robust federal spending.
Earnings are also expected Wednesday from
Sprint
(S) - Get Report
,
Time Warner
(TWX)
and
Groupon
(GRPN) - Get Report
.
Nokia
(NOK) - Get Report
, the world's biggest handset maker, said Wednesday it would slash 4,000 jobs in Finland, Mexico and Hungary as it struggles in a tough smartphone market.
The layoffs are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Yahoo!'s
(YHOO)
Chairman Roy Bostock is stepping down from the board, along with three other directors, the struggling Internet giant announced on Tuesday.
In an open letter to shareholders,
said he will not be standing for re-election at the firm's next shareholders meeting. Fellow directors Vyomesh Joshi, Arthur Kern and Gary Wilson also will be stepping down, he added.
Last month, the company appointed PayPal President Scott Thompson as its new CEO.
netted all three crucial state races Tuesday night as the former Pennsylvania senator dealt the latest surprising blow to front-runner Mitt Romney's campaign.
Santorum jumped to early victories against Romney in the Minnesota caucuses and the non-binding, so-called beauty contest in Missouri's primary, before he wrapped up a shocking win just past 1 a.m. EST on Wednesday in Colorado.
-- Written by Joseph Woelfel
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Joseph Woelfel
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