M A R K E T .. S N A P S H O T -- Warnings set to crimp shares
By Julie Rannazzisi, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 7:29 AM ET Jul 20, 2001
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- A warning from stalwart Microsoft is set to weigh heavily on U.S. markets once trading commences Friday.
The software colossus' effect on the stock indexes is far reaching, as it's a component of the Dow Industrials, Nasdaq and S&P 500.
Markets have been extremely volatile of late as investors have bounced back and forth from focusing on the dismal near-term outlook for corporate profits to zeroing in on expectations for healthy growth rates next year. Economic news has been conflicting as well, producing additional volatility on Wall Street and making day-to-day market gyrations extremely hard to read.
Checking the futures markets, the S&P 500 contract slid 10.60 points, or 0.9 percent, and was trading about 8. 30 points below fair value, according to HL Camp & Co. Nasdaq futures shaved a meaty 45.50 points, or 2.6 percent.
Microsoft (MSFT) saw its shares fall 5 percent in Instinet pre-market action. The software kingpin reported late Thursday a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of a penny a share, in line with the company's revised target. But Microsoft said is now expects to make between 39 and 40 cents a share in the fiscal first quarter vs. the 45 cents that had been projected by First Call/Thomson Financial. The company cited slowing PC sales.
Meanwhile, Sweden's Ericsson (ERICY) posted a narrower-than-expected loss in the second quarter but said that due to weakening market conditions, it expects flat to moderate growth from its mobile business for 2001. On Thursday, wireless stocks rallied as Nokia (NOK) revealed optimism over growth prospects in 2002.
Checking fund flows, Trim Tabs reported that all equity funds had inflows of $9.5 billion during the week ending July 18 compared with outflows of $11.0 billion during the prior week. And equity funds that invest primarily in U.S. stocks had inflows of $7.2 billion compared with outflows of $7.4 billion the prior week.
Treasury focus
Government issues reclaimed some lost ground on Friday, with bonds generating modest buying interest across the board.
The 10-year Treasury note gained 5/32 to yield ($TNX) 5.09 percent while the 30-year Treasury bond put on 7/32 to yield ($TYX) 5.515 percent.
Only the second-tier release of the Treasury budget statement will be out on Friday. See economic calendar and forecasts.
In the currency sector, the dollar saw mixed action, with dollar/yen changing hands at 123.68, up 0.3 percent, while euro/dollar gained 0.4 percent to 123.64. |
