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Strategies & Market Trends : the Women of SI -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rainy_Day_Woman who wrote (965)	5/3/2000 9:15:00 AM
From: Rainy_Day_Woman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1691

NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were seen opening flat to lower on Wednesday with a profit warning from software company Novell Inc. (NasdaqNM:NOVL - news) adding to the uneasiness leftover from the previous session's downturn. The Standard & Poor's 500 index futures for June was off 1.00 point at 1,449.50, while the Nasdaq 100 index futures was up 7 points at 3,645.05. ``We are in for some more downward adjustments,'' said James Volk, co-director of institutional trading at D.A. Davidson & Co. ``I am not really concerned that the market is going to go in some freefall again. Novell is saying they are going to miss numbers and there is the fact that no good news is coming out with earnings season over.'' Novell, which makes business management software, said on Tuesday that its fiscal second-quarter net income would be about half of what Wall Street expected because of rival Microsoft Corp.'s recently released Windows 2000 and the popularity of the Linux operating system. The company's stock closed at 17-9/16 ahead of the news. By the time the trading day is over, Wall Street will have digested two economic reports that should shed more light on whether the U.S. economy is in danger of overheating. The Commerce Department at 10:00 a.m. is scheduled to release March factory orders data with orders for manufactured goods expected to show a 1.5 percent increase. The Federal Reserve's Beige Book, set for release at 2:00 p.m. (1800 GMT), will be looked at by traders for anecdotal reports on regional price pressures and labour shortages throughout the 12 Federal Reserve districts. But the week's most important economic data, the U.S. payroll report for April, will not be released until Friday. Recent data has shown an uptick in inflationary pressures, raising concern that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates aggressively when it meets next on May 16. In a Reuters poll last week, 12 out of 29 primary dealers -- the Wall Street firms that deal directly with the Fed in money markets -- said they expect a half-point rate move on May 16. ``It looks like a squeamish open,'' said Bryan Piskorowski of Prudential Securities. ``Traders are going to be playing it close to the vest with the economic numbers coming out this week.'' On Tuesday, the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC - news) slid 172.63 points, or 4.36 percent, to end at 3,785.45 -- closing at its session low and erasing Monday's gain. The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - news) fell 80.66 points, or 0.75 percent, to settle at 10,731.12. Much of the loss was due to AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news) after the phone and telecommunications giant warned of slower profit and revenue growth. The widely-tracked Standard & Poor's 500 index (^SPX - news) slipped 21.96 points, or 1.50 percent, to 1,446.29, while the Wilshire 5000 index (^TMW - news) lost 268.91 points, or 1.96 percent, to 13,457.90. In early trading, the U.S. Treasury 10-year note eased 6/32, with the yield rising to 6.33 percent from Tuesday's close of 6.30 percent. The U.S. Treasury 30-year bond weakened 9/32 with the yield rising to 6.03 percent from Monday's close of 6.02 percent. In other economic news, two Federal Reserve officials are set to speak on Wednesday. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William McDonough is to talk in New York at 1:00 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT). Federal Reserve Governor Laurence Meyer is scheduled to testify before the House Banking Committee in Washington on payment of interest on reserves and Fed surplus at 10:00 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT). Among the stocks to watch on Wednesday, Anglo-Dutch food and consumer goods giant Unilever Plc/NV on Wednesday urged Bestfoods (NYSE:BFO - news) executives to reconsider the U.S. group's rejection of its $18.41 billion cash bid for the U.S. company. Bestfoods closed at 50-9/16 ahead of the news. Undersea fiber-optic network builder Global Crossing Ltd. (NasdaqNM:GBLX - news) on Tuesday posted a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss as data sales surged and voice sales remained strong despite pricing pressure and intense competition through the industry. The company's stock closed at 32-5/8 ahead of the news. Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO - news) and Internet services provider America Online Inc (NYSE:AOL - news) are expected to announce on Wednesday a two-year marketing partnership worth about $64 million, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition. Coca-Cola closed at 46-5/16 ahead of the news while AOL finished at 57-5/8.