Stock Futures Flat As Earnings Begin
Tuesday October 10, 7:20 am ET
Stock Futures Flat Ahead of 3Q Earnings Season; Overseas Markets Make Slight Advance
LONDON (AP) -- U.S. stock market futures were virtually unmoved Tuesday in the last trading session before third-quarter earnings season officially kicks off with results from Alcoa, the Dow industrials component.
Dow Jones futures were recently down 1 point, S&P 500 futures edged up 0.6 of a point and Nasdaq futures were up 2 points.
U.S. stocks ended higher Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite at its best level in five months, as a Fed official's soothing remarks on inflation, a going-private offer for Cablevision Systems and a $6 billion deal in the banking sector placed news of North Korea's nuclear test on the back burner. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5 percent, and 0.1 percent rises were seen for the Dow industrials and the S&P 500.
The economic schedule for Tuesday is light, with August wholesale inventories probably up 0.6 percent after a 0.8 percent rise last month.
Also, a speech from Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher could affect markets.
Traders will want to see if his views are similar to colleague Janet Yellen's, who said holding interest rates steady makes sense as policymakers come to grip with economic data, and ex-Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, who said that last week's rise in weekly mortgage applications could signal that the worst may well be over for the U.S. housing industry.
Crude-oil futures were little changed, with the November contract up 4 cents at $60 a barrel. Gold futures also held to a tight range.
The earnings calendar is also light, with Supervalu set to report results, ahead of the open on Tuesday.
After the market's close, Alcoa will release quarterly results, with the aluminum giant expected to earn 77 cents a share on revenue of $7.75 billion.
In Korea, LG.Philips LCD reported its second-straight quarterly loss as panel prices fell and inventory costs rose.
Elsewhere, Sovereign Bancorp is expected to force out Chairman and Chief Executive Jay Sidhu and name Vice Chairman Joseph P. Campanelli as president and CEO, The Wall Street Journal reported. An individual close to the situation told the paper that Sovereign would name a director, Michael Ehlerman, chairman. The changes are a compromise with Banco Santander, the Spanish bank that holds about a quarter of Sovereign, the Journal reported.
Two cruise operators were downgraded, with J.P. Morgan downgrading shares of both Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruises to neutral. Though weakening oil prices and a mild hurricane season have lifted both company's shares since mid-August, there are headwinds ahead, the broker warned.
The same brokerage is taking a more positive stance on homebuilders, upgrading D.R. Horton Inc. and Standard Pacific Corp. to overweight from neutral and Toll Brothers Inc. to neutral from underweight.
International stock markets posted mild gains. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.25 percent after traders returned from a three-day holiday in Tokyo. The French CAC 40 rose 0.4 percent.
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