BEFORE THE BELL: US Stock Futures Down Over Worries On Growth

7th Jul 2010 11:22

By Barbara Kollmeyer U.S. stock futures were pointing to a weaker start for Wednesday, with slowing growth worries continuing to hang over investors and global markets weak after Wall Street nearly lost its grip on gains in the prior session. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 48 points to 9634, while those for the S&P 500 were down 5.7 points to 1018.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 fell 8.25 points to 1726.25. The main U.S. stock benchmarks survived an afternoon challenge Tuesday, managing to hold onto gains and break multi-session losing streaks after an earlier rally lost steam in the face of consumer discretionary losses and concerns over global growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 57.14 points, or 0.6%, at 9743.62, to snap a seven-session losing streak, led by consumer discretionary stocks. The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished up 5.48 points, or 0.5%, at 1028.06. The Nasdaq barely eked out a gain, up 2.09 points, or 0.1%, at 2093.88. Jim Reid, strategist with Deutsche Bank AG (DB), said disappointing ISM Non-Manufacturing data on Tuesday has weighed on markets overnight. "This disappointing data and also the uncertainties around what will be (or not be) disclosed around the stress test seems to have kept risk takers on the back foot overnight," he said in a note to investors. There is no data on the schedule for Wednesday. Stocks in focus include Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), which is planning to lay off a small number of employees as early as this week, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The number is far smaller than the roughly 5,000 laid off last year, this source said. Shares of the Silicon Valley electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) could see more pressure after falling below their original offering price in Tuesday trading, sliding 16%. The stock made its debut last week, climbing 41% in the first day of trade. European shares were weak, returning gains of the prior session, especially among resource stocks. Poorly received results from Irish construction group CRH PLC (CRH.DB, CRH) and U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer Group PLC (MAKSY, MKS.LN) also pressured bourses. Asian stocks largely declined Wednesday after weak U.S. data refueled worries about the strength of the global economic recovery. Technology shares dropped, unimpressed by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s (005930.SE, SSNHY) forecast of a record operating profit, and focus fell to the massive initial public offering for Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. (601288.SH, AGBC.YY) , which priced in Asia at the middle (for Hong Kong) and above (for Shanghai) its indicated range. "It's the same story from before; the market can't free itself from recent worries about slowing growth in the U.S. and China," said Samsung Securities Co. Ltd. (016360.SE) analyst Oh Hyun-seok in Seoul. "The U.S. market's weakness toward the end of (Tuesday's session) is also negatively affecting sentiment." The dollar rose against the euro, changing hands around $1.2570. Gold futures were down $8.30 to $1,186.80 an ounce, while crude oil futures fell 4 cents to $71.94 a barrel. Euro-area GDP increased 0.2% in the first-quarter of 2010, compared with the previous quarter, a second estimate from Eurostat confirmed Wednesday. In the fourth quarter of 2009, growth was 0.1%. Year-on-year, seasonally adjusted first-quarter GDP rose 0.6%. -By Barbara Kollmeyer; 34 91 395 8131; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 07, 2010 06:22 ET (10:22 GMT)