M A R K E T -- S N A P S H O T -- Stocks set for mixed open
By Julie Rannazzisi, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 7:28 AM ET Oct 18, 2001
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- A warning from Europe's largest software maker is likely to dampen sentiment once trading commences in the U.S. on Thursday.
SAP (SAP) lowered its sales target for 2001 and saw its shares plunged 18 percent at one point in Germany. U.S. competitor Oracle (ORCL), meanwhile, edged up 20 cents to $13.88 in Instinet dealings.
Also set to dampen sentiment is Texas Instruments, which informed investors after the close Wednesday that it expects a larger-than-expected loss for the fourth quarter while reporting a narrower one in the third quarter. The stock (TXN) saw its rating lowered by Merrill Lynch to an "accumulate" from a "buy." TI saw its shares drop about 8 percent in pre-open action.
Glancing at the futures markets, the December S&P 500 contract gave up 1.40 points, or 0.1 percent, and was trading about 4.90 points below fair value, according to HL Camp & Co. Nasdaq futures eked out a gain of 6.50 points, or 0.5 percent, while the Dow Jones Indicative Index erased 15 points, or 0.2 percent, to 9,217.
Over in the government bond arena, prices traded close to the unchanged mark.
The 10-year Treasury note was flat to yield ($TNX) 4.565 percent while the 30-year government bond added 1/32 to yield ($TYX) 5.315 percent.
Checking the economic calendar, Thursday will see the release of weekly initial claims and the Philly Fed index for October. Check economic calendar and forecasts.
In the currency sector, the dollar lost 0.2 percent to 120.97 yen while the euro erased 0.2 percent to 90.13 cents. |
