NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Stocks are set to straddle the flat line once trading begins Friday as investors take some time to assess the deluge of earnings reports released this week.
March S&P 500 futures gave up 0.30 point and were trading right at fair value, according to HL Camp & Co. And Nasdaq futures lost 9.50 points, or 0.6 percent and were trading about 11.600 points below fair value.
In shares trading before the opening bell, Qualcomm (NasdaqNM: QCOM - news) changed hands at $41.45, off 26 cents. The telecom outfit reported late Thursday a fiscal first-quarter profit that matched expectations but indicated that sales would decline in the second quarter and that earnings-per-share would come in at around 19 cents to 21 cents, excluding special items, vs. the 24 cents a share that had been expected by Thomson Financial/First Call.
Gateway meanwhile, was a whisper higher in Europe at $6.65. The PC maker (NYSE: GTW - news) posted late Thursday a fourth-quarter profit from operations that modestly surpassed analysts' expectations. The company also announced that it would let go of 2,250 employees and shut down plants in four states.
On the fund flow front, Trim Tabs estimated that all equity funds had outflows of $2.6 billion over the four business days ending Jan. 23 compared with inflows of $3.2 billion in the prior week. And equity funds that invest primarily in U.S. stocks had outflows of $1.6 billion compared with inflows of $2.7 billion the prior week. Finally, bond funds had outflows of $100 million vs. inflows of $800 million the prior week.
Treasurys keep declining
Government bond prices continued to slide as investors came to terms with the notion that the Fed is likely to be on hold when it meets to decide on monetary policy next week.
Fed chief Alan Greenspan gave an upbeat testimony to the Senate on Thursday, squashing all lingering expectations for a 12th Fed rate cut on Jan. 30. Hopes for a last ease were re-ignited by the Fed chief himself on Jan. 11, when Greenspan made remarks on the economy that investors interpreted as overly pessimistic.
The 10-year Treasury note was off 13/32 to yield 5.06 percent while the 30-year government bond erased 13/32 to yield 5.47 percent.
Friday will see the release of December existing home sales, seen coming in at a 5.18 million rate.
In the currency sector, the dollar declined 0.4 percent to 134.23 yen while the euro slid 1.3 percent at 86.58 cents.
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