Stock Futures Lower Ahead of Auto Sales
Tuesday October 3, 8:29 am ET
Stock Futures Tilt Lower on Worries About Auto Sales, Economy
LONDON (AP) -- U.S. stock futures tilted lower on Tuesday on concerns about how much U.S. economic growth will slow and on expectations of sluggish auto sales.
Dow Jones futures were recently down 10 points, S&P 500 futures declined 1.7 points and Nasdaq futures eased 3.5 points.
"Sentiment is moving back and forward between manic and depressive. And it is the degree of belief in the soft landing scenario that steers these waves," said Philippe Gijsels, a strategist at Fortis Bank.
"At the current time, the sharp drop in commodity prices is seen as quite positive since it means lower inflation and lower interest rates. But if the drop continues and economic figures continue to weaken, recession fears may once again creep in," he added.
On Monday, U.S. stocks closed lower, with technology shares in particular seeing weakness. The Dow industrials again couldn't close at a record high. The Dow finished 8.7 points lower, the Nasdaq Composite lost 20.8 points and the S&P 500 weakened 4.5 points.
Automakers will be in focus on Tuesday with the release of September sales figures, with the Chrysler unit of DaimlerChrysler expected to have the worst performance. Sales of General Motors and Ford Motor Co. are seen roughly flat compared with last year.
GM also was the subject of a "Heard on the Street" column in The Wall Street Journal, which quoted analysts as saying its momentum could stall in the second half of the year.
Automakers also drew attention in Europe, where both Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen saw broker downgrades.
The dollar edged higher on the Japanese yen following news that North Korea is conducting a nuclear test. The greenback was basically steady against the euro.
Crude-oil futures declined further in electronic trading, slipping 73 cents at $60.30 a barrel. Gold futures were down around $5 an ounce.
Elsewhere, Marvell Technology is expected to decline after saying late Monday that third-quarter revenue will drop around 10 percent from second-quarter levels on flagging demand for its hard disk drive customers. Marvell also said it would have to restate past results because of stock-option accounting errors.
Shares of rival Broadcom may also come under pressure.
Skyworks Solutions may rally after cutting its workforce by 10 percent as part of a plan to save $70 million in annual costs.
Pier 1 Imports, the struggling retailer, suspended its 10-cents-a-share dividend payment.
Nintendo lifted its earnings forecast on sales of video game hardware and software and a strong outlook for its forthcoming Wii console.
Rival Sony finished lower in Tokyo after a broker downgrade.
Overseas markets were mostly weaker, with the Nikkei 225 closing 0.1 percent lower in Japan, and the CAC-40 losing 0.7 percent in late-morning Paris trade.
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