-- Wall Street Poised for a Lackluster Start --
By Denise Duclaux
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks are set to open flat to a touch
lower on Wednesday with investors debating their next step as
the market's climb off an early October trough hits a rocky
patch.
"We are still resolving this overbought condition," said
Larry Wachtel, a market analyst at Prudential Securities. "We
had a correction all last week, a vicious correction on Monday
and a snapback yesterday -- and so it goes. There is no
specific trend. There is nothing really conclusive going on
here."
The blue-chip Dow snapped an eight-week streak of gains
last week on worries the market had rallied too hard, too far.
Investor sentiment has improved at the tail-end of a brutal
year for the stock market, but the ongoing threat of war with
Iraq and mixed reports on the U.S. economic rebound are keeping
a lid on enthusiasm.
Investors looked set to hug the sidelines at the open after
bargain hunting on Tuesday boosted the market. Standard &
Poor's 500 futures edged down 1.50 points to 900.50. Nasdaq 100
futures eased 2 points to 1,029, while Dow Jones Industrial
futures shed 15 points to 8,540. The Nasdaq 100 pre-market
indicator dipped 0.3 percent.
Retail sales for November are slated for release on
Thursday and could help shed light on the economic recovery.
Analysts polled by Reuters estimated that retail sales rose
just 0.3 percent in November and 0.2 percent excluding auto
sales. Consumer spending is a closely watched barometer of
overall economic health because it accounts for roughly
two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.
"The focus going forward are the retail sales tomorrow,"
said John Hendricks, market strategist with State Street Global
Markets. "The number is expected to be weak. As a result any
downside in the S&P futures may be somewhat muted as already
weak retail sales numbers are anticipated to a degree." But
with no economics news on the calendar for Wednesday's session,
corporate news will grab the spotlight.
Intel Corp. <INTC.O> Chairman Andy Grove said on Tuesday it
may be too early to forecast a rebound in the semiconductor
sector despite recent industry outlooks indicating an upturn
may be on the horizon. Intel closed at $18.13.
Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. <NOC.N> on
Tuesday after the close said it had reached a deal with U.S.
antitrust authorities that will allow its $6.7 billion purchase
of TRW Inc. <TRW.N> to proceed after shareholders of both
companies vote on the deal on Wednesday. Northrop closed at
$96.62, while TRW ended at $51.81.
Defense contractor Raytheon Co. <RTN.N> said on Wednesday
before the open that Chief Financial Officer Frank Caine
resigned, ending a contentious term of service during which the
firm failed to capitalize on the increased focus in military
equipment makers. Shares closed at $28.52 on Tuesday but fell
to $26 in preopen trading.
Baxter International Inc. <BAX.N> on Tuesday after the
close announced plans for concurrent offerings of common stock
and equity units worth about $1.3 billion based on the
health-care product maker's current stock price. Shares
finished at $31.30.
Schlumberger Ltd. <SLB.N>, the world's No. 1 oilfield
services company, said on Tuesday after the close that it will
slash thousands of jobs and take charges totaling $3.17 billion
in the fourth quarter to realign its business units. Shares
ended at $45.37 on Tuesday but eased back to $44.75 in preopen
trade.
Kimberly-Clark Corp. <KMB.N> on Wednesday before the open
cut its fourth-quarter profit forecast, citing stiff
competition in the diaper market and weakness in Latin America
and Asia. Kimberly-Clark closed at $47.93.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed up 100.85
points, or 1.19 percent, at 8,574.26 on Tuesday. The broader
Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 12.45 points, or 1.40
percent, at 904.45. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index
<.IXIC> was up 23.62 points, or 1.73 percent, at 1,390.76.
Wall Street looked past the Federal Reserve's widely
expected decision to keep interest rates steady. Instead,
investors focused on grabbing stocks that had tumbled, such as
semiconductor equipment shares.
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Symbols:
US;INTC US;NOC US;TRW US;RTN US;BAX US;SLB US;KMB US;SPX CA;INTC XE;INTC
DE;RTN DE;RTNF DE;RTNX DE;BTL CH;BAX GB;BXL GB;BTL US;ZZW US;WUB US;COMP
US;SPL US&DJI
11-Dec-2002 14:02:06 GMT
Source RTRS - Reuters News
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