Quarter-Point Looking Possible March 20
Edited by Thomas Granahan
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
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8:33 (Dow Jones) Feb. payrolls stronger than expected at +135K. Jobless rate
at 4.2% and wages up $0.07. DJ/CNBC survey had called for 75K gain, a 4.2%
jobless rate. What slowdown? Data should spark fears of 25BP, not 50BP, on
March 20. (BB)
8:30 (Dow Jones) Another big tech earnings warning, this time from Intel
(INTC), will pressure stocks Friday morning. Intel said sales will fall 25%
quarter over quarter, and also would not call this quarter the bottom. The
warning itself is not too surprising, but the severity of it is. So, on the
one-year anniversary of the Nasdaq Composite's first close above 5000 mark,
the tech-stuffed barometer may make a run at its intraday bear-market low of
2071 hit on March 1. Natl Semi (NSM) also warned that it won't come close to
hitting 4Q views, and Motorola (MOT) was cut by Merrill. Safe to say techs
will be under pressure, at least early. Outside the corporate news front,
the Street gets a look at Feb. non-farm payrolls and the country's
unemployment rate. There is some talk that the Fed is trying to guide
rate-cut expectations for March 20 down to a quarter-point, so we'll see if
these numbers support that minority view. Stock futures weak, Tsys higher.
(TG)
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 03-09-01
08:33 AM |
