NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks are likely to open flat on Thursday, as trading slows ahead of the three-day Easter weekend.
Analysts said continued robust corporate earnings would underpin markets, although Wall Street slipped on Wednesday amid worries about revenues at big technology companies.
``I think we'll have a slow day,' said Peter Cardillo, director of research at Westfalia Investments. He forecast ``a mixed opening, possibly to the downside.'
Larry Wachtel, an analyst at Prudential Securities, predicted trading would be quiet as traders left early ahead of the Easter holiday. Markets are closed on Good Friday.
He said a steady stream of strong earnings reports was excellent for the markets.
``There is no problem there,' Wachtel said. ``If earnings drive stocks, then we're in good shape.'
Stocks on Wednesday lost their grip on the stellar gains of the previous two days. The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - news) lost 92.46 points, or 0.86 percent, to end at 10,674.96.
Worries about reported revenues at International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news) and Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - news) dragged the blue-chip Dow lower.
The Nasdaq composite index (^IXIC - news) slid 87.16 points, or 2.3 percent, to 3,706.41. The gauge took a hit from the tech bellwethers' weakness and backtracking after two consecutive sessions of record one-day point gains.
Apple Computer Inc. (NasdaqNM:AAPL - news), media company Knight-Ridder Inc. (NYSE:KRI - news), drug company Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE:SGP - news) and USX-U.S. Steel Group (NYSE:X - news) were among big-name companies that posted earnings that met or beat Wall Street forecasts late Wednesday or early Thursday.
Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) and McDonald's Corp. (NYSE:MCD - news) are among dozens of Standard & Poor's 500 companies expected to report earnings on Thursday.
Tokyo's Nikkei average closed down 127.3 points, or 0.67 percent, at 18,959.32. London's FTSE-100 index (^FTSE - news) was up 29.6 points, or 0.48 percent, at 6,214.5.
The dollar rose against the yen to a bid of 104.82 yen. The euro fell to $0.9393 bid.
The U.S. Treasury 30-year bond was flat and yielding 5.85 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index future for June was up 3.4 points at 1,443.7.
The Wall Street Journal's Heard on the Street column said the parade of healthy corporate earnings is a result of both sound businesses and of companies managing analysts' forecasts.
The New York Times' Market Place column said that unless stocks took another severe dive, overall damage to the economy would likely be minimal. |
