M A R K E T .. S N A P S H O T -- Stocks brace for a downside open
By Julie Rannazzisi, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 7:26 AM ET Apr 23, 2001
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Shares are readying for another open in the red Monday as investors prepare for another jam-packed week on the earnings front.
By the end of the week, 25 of the 30 Dow companies and 350 S&P 500 companies will have reported, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. With 47 percent of S&P 500 companies having reported, the earnings compiler said 57 percent have surpassed expectations. That's right around the seven-year average of 58 percent.
June S&P 500 futures slipped 5.60 points, or 0.4 percent, and were trading about 3.90 points below fair value, according to HL Camp & Co. Nasdaq futures, meanwhile, fell 30.50 points, or 1.6 percent.
Among shares seeing activity before the official start of trading, Cisco Systems shed 35 cents to $18.80 while Oracle lost 50 cents to $19.25.
Government prices gained some minor ground out of the chute, with the 10-year Treasury note up 7/32 to yield ($TNX) 5.255 percent while the 30-year government bond added 1/4 to yield ($TYX) 5.775 percent.
No economic news is due out for Monday. The highlights on the week's calendar include April consumer confidence, March durable goods orders, March new home sales, March existing home sales, the first-quarter employment cost index and the advance reading of first-quarter gross domestic product. View Economic Preview and economic calendar and forecasts.
In the currency arena, dollar/yen inched up 0.1 percent to 121.95 while euro/dollar edged down 0.1 percent to 0.9002.
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