M A R K E T .. S N A P S H O T -- Markets poised for upside open
(8:50--It looks more like a downside opening to me,??? dealie)
Retail sales spike 0.8%; PPI up as-expected 0.3%
By Julie Rannazzisi, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 8:45 AM ET May 11, 2001
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares are poised for some modest upside Friday with news that consumers were quick to part with their dollars in April likely to energize the market.
April retail sales jumped 0.8 percent vs. expectations for a tiny 0.1-percent increase. Excluding autos, sales rose a healthy 0.7 percent.
On the inflation front, the producer price index climbed by an as-expected 0.3 percent in April. The core rate, which takes out the food and energy sectors, gained 0.2 percent, a touch higher than the 0.1 percent increase that had been expected. View Economic Preview and economic calendar and forecasts.
June S&P 500 futures edged up 2.10 points, or 0.2 percent, and were trading roughly 4.80 points above fair value, according to HL Camp & Co. Nasdaq futures, meanwhile, eked out a 8.50-point gain, or 0.5 percent.
In shares trading in the pre-market, Dow stock IBM (IBM) gave up $1.20 to $114 in Instinet. Lou Gerstner, Big Blue's chief executive, said at the company's analyst meeting late Thursday that its services expertise will continue to fuel double-digit earnings growth. He notes that the services segment is now the most important sector in the tech industry and that IBM to has an overwhelming market leadership.
Analyst Andrew Neff at Bear Stearns lowered IBM to "attractive" from "buy," citing concerns about less potential for upside due to valuation. The analyst said that while IBM was "confident and upbeat" at its analyst meeting, it did not provide any updates or action plans for its PC business.
In other news, Canada's Nortel Networks (NT) announced that its chief operating officer Clarence Chandran has resigned effective immediately to take additional time for the completion of his medical leave announced on March 13.
Meanwhile, fund flow tracker Trim Tabs estimated that all equity funds had inflows of $400 million during the week ending May 9 vs. inflows of $14.9 billion during the prior week. Equity funds that invest primarily in U.S. stocks had inflows of $2.1 billion, compared with inflows of $11.3 billion the previous week.
In the government market, prices slipped following the stronger-than-expected retail sales report.
The 10-year Treasury note was off 1/4 to yield ($TNX) 5.335 percent while the 30-year government bond edged down 1/8 to yield ($TYX) 5.77 percent.
In the currency sector, dollar/yen erased 0.2 percent to 122.35 while euro/dollar lost 0.4 percent to 0.8773. |
