Foreign Markets
Stocks were mixed overnight in Asia after Wall Street’s rebound. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average rose 15.97 points, or 0.2 %, to 8,727.30, while South Korea’s Kospi added 1.4 % to 1,356.02.Chinese indices fell as The International Monetary Fund said U.S. financial firms could suffer $2.7 trillion in losses through 2010, a figure nearly double its projection just six months ago ; while the worldwide total could surpass $4 trillion. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 407.44 points, or 2.7 %, to 14,878.45, while Shanghai’s benchmark fell 74.48 points, or 2.9 %, to 2,461.35. In Europe, equities edged slightly higher. Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3 % to 4,000.19, Germany’s DAX added 0.5 % to 4,525.27, and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.6 % to 2,990.15.
U.S. Futures
The Treasury Secretary is going to be speaking again in the premarket, while AT&T Inc., (T) Boeing Co., McDonald’s Corp. (MCD), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) will report their quarterly results before the opening bell.
As traders wait for those results and impact on the marketplace, Dow Jones industrial average futures are down 50, or 0.6 %, to 7,873. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures lost 3.70, or 0.4 %, to 844.00, while Nasdaq 100 index futures decline 6, or 0.5 %, to 1,322.
On Tuesday, stocks fell early after a slew of earnings reports in the premarket. However, Treasury Secretary Geithner in remarks stated that a vast majority of institutions have enough capital as the department induces stress tests on banks. The sector was down more than 1% in the early going, but finished with an 8.2% gain to lead the market. After yesterday’s big selloff, the Dow rose 1.6 %, to 7,969.56. The blue chips lagged behind broader stock indicators, which showed the biggest gains. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 2.1 %, to 850.08, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 2.2 %, to 1,643.85.
Currencies and Commodities
The dollar traded at 97.83 yen, declining 0.9166% in the currency market. The euro depreciated 0.0772% to $1.2936, while the pound retreated 0.3769% to $1.4618 as U.K unemployment rises and a budget submission with what may be the biggest deficit on record, hampering his ability to combat the recession. Gold rose $4.60 to $887.30 an ounce, while silver gained 0.33% to $12.10. In the bond market, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 2 basis points to 2.88%. Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 4 cents to $48.59 a barrel on the NYMEX; ahead of today’s inventory report.
Corporate News
Yahoo (YHOO) earned $118 million, or 8 cents per share, during the first three months of the year. That represents a 78 % drop from net income of $537 million, or 37 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue fell 13 % to $1.58 billion. The company will lay off nearly 700 workers in addition to the 2500 cut within the last year.
Continental Airlines (CAL) reported a 1st quarter loss of $136 million or $1.10 per share, compared with a year-ago loss of $82 million or 82 cents per share. Excluding onetime and extra ordinary items, Continental said it would have lost $132 million, or $1.07 per share beating analyst estimates of a loss of $1.19 per share. Revenue fell to $3 billion from $3.57 billion a year ago, however beat estimates of $2.98 billion on the top line.
Economic News
10:35 AM
EIA Petroleum Status Report: The Energy Information Administration (EIA) provides weekly information on petroleum inventories in the U.S. Oil prices have ticked up as OPEC continues production cuts to meet its quota, despite continued stockpiles. Trading on the NYMEX has been primarily driven by the direction of equities and the level of optimism of a sooner rather than later economic recovery.
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