09:25 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] Cash market poised for a relatively weak beginning as the S&P futures, at 1246, are 5 points below fair value while the Nasdaq Pre-Market Indicator is down 17 points... Negative tone has been exacerbated by General Electric's (GE 47.85) announcement that its final proposal to the European Commission of divestitures is far short of the EC's demands, which seek billions more than the proposed GE divestitures. GE is not optimistic that its proposal to acquire Honeywell (HON 42.26) will meet with European regulatory approval, saying that the Commission's extraordinary demands are far beyond the point at which the company would do the Honeywell deal... This turn of events is raising concerns about subsequent business dealings between Europe and the U.S.
09:05 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] Futures traders back on their heels this morning as a predominantly negative newsflow has reined in their enthusiasm... Among the more pressing items are earnings warnings from Ingram Micro (IM 14.06) and Quantum (DSS 11.21) that were highlighted by an admission that the IT spending slowdown is spreading to Europe and other regions, the ECB cutting its growth forecast and raising its inflation expectations, Merrill Lynch downgrading Corning (GLW 17.35) and cutting estimates for FY01 and FY02, an indication that the 425K 4-wk average in initial claims is the highest in almost a decade, and a realization that the inventory/sales ratio at 1.44% is the highest since Jan. 1999... Separately, the tone hasn't been helped by STMicroelectronics (STM 34.10), which announced a short time ago that it is lowering its Q2 revenue forecast to $1.55-$1.60 bln from a previous forecast of $1.65-$1.80 bln... Presently, the S&P futures, at 1248, are 3 points below fair value while the Nasdaq Pre-Market Indicator is down 15 points.
08:40 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] A mostly negative bias in the futures trade, to coincide with a mostly negative newsflow, has been evident this morning... There was a reversal of sorts in the past few minutes, however, following a batch of economic releases... PPI was a bit better than expected with total and core-PPI up 0.1% and 0.2% respectively versus consensus estimates for gains of 0.3% and 0.2%... Initial claims fell 12K to 428K and Business Inventories were unchanged in April... The market responded favorably to the benign inflation indication in the PPI, but the enthusiasm has started to fade with traders cognizant that the overall economic picture still hasn't shown any material signs of improvement... Presently, the S&P futures, at 1250, are 1 point below fair value while the Nasdaq 100 Pre-Market Indicator is down 5 points.
08:00 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures, at 1249, are 2 points below fair value while the Nasdaq 100 futures, at 1785, are 24 points below fair value... Not much news to drive buying interest this morning as the focus remains on yesterday's disappointing outing and the upcoming PPI report at 8:30 ET... Consensus estimates for total and core-PPI are increases of 0.3% and 0.2% respectively.
07:40 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] This morning's fair value figures -- S&P 500 fair value: 1251; closed 2 pts above fair value. Nasdaq 100 fair value: 1809; closed 1 pt below fair value. Current indications: S&P 500 futures are -3.3, or -1.3 pts below fair value. Nasdaq 100 is -21, or 22 pts below fair value... Tone in tech sector has been weak throughout the morning, an extension of late fade in the market yesterday. Downgrades of GLW and MUSE not helping matters. |
