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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nick who wrote (39240)	7/19/2001 8:56:02 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Stocks Seen Higher, Helped by Nokia Thursday July 19, 8:28 am Eastern Time By Haitham Haddadin NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were expected to open higher on Thursday as Wall Street was heartened by upbeat earnings news from tech bellwethers such as telecom equipment giant Nokia Corp. (NYSE:NOK - news) ``It's on Nokia and SAP also. Two major technology companies had less worse than expected earnings. SAP did better than expected and Nokia did not disappoint,'' said Larry Wachtel, analyst at Prudential Securities. Germany's SAP AG , Europe's biggest software maker, beat analysts' results forecasts. Nokia said it expected slightly lower third-quarter earnings per share but did not give a precise outlook for the fourth quarter. It said it expected top-line revenue growth to return to its previous target of 25-35 percent some time next year. ``That was a ray of sunshine that helped the European markets and will probably lead to a decent opening here. But who knows, 15 minutes into the open everybody could sell,'' Wachtel added. September Nasdaq 100 futures were trading up 30.50 points at 1,714.50, suggesting a rise of more than 1.5 percent at the open for the tech-heavy market's largest stocks. Front month Standard & Poor's 500 futures added 6.50 points to 1,218.80 and the Dow Jones Industrial futures rose 30 points to 10,610. This suggested a stronger open for the broad market and blue chip stocks. The earnings news since Wednesday's close was in fact mixed with bleak outlooks coming from technology giants such as computer giant International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news) which offered a tepid view of future profits. Shares in Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, rose in pre-open U.S. trade on Thursday in line with its Helsinki-listed issue after Nokia posted quarterly results that were in line with or slightly above analysts' forecasts. The gains rubbed off on rivals. The positive earnings news from Nokia gave European technology stocks a fillip, but they struggled to counter the effects of falling media and energy stocks across broader European indices on Thursday. In other key overseas markets, Tokyo stocks closed mixed on Thursday as rebounds in Sony Corp. and other technology issues were offset by losses in Japanese banks, including a six percent tumble in the world's largest, Mizuho Holdings Inc. The tech-sensitive Nikkei average (.N225) rose 15.81 points or 0.13 percent to 11,908.39. Wall Street also gets some economic numbers either side of the 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) open. The Labor Department releases first-time claims for jobless benefits for the week ended July 14 at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT). Economists forecast the figures fell to 423,000 new filings vs. 445,000 in the prior week. The Conference Board releases its report on June leading economic indicators at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT). Economists expectations are for a rise of 0.2 percent compared to a 0.5 percent rise in the prior month. IBM, whose shares are part of the blue chip Dow 30, fell in pre-open trade and fetched as low as $100 in after-hours trading on Wednesday from its close at $104.28. IBM offered a ray of hope when it reported a higher second-quarter profit on Wednesday after the closing bell as the world's largest computer maker's wide range of products and services buffered it from a downturn in the high-tech economy. But Big Blue's chairman and chief executive, Louis Gerstner, said slack demand for computers and related goods could plague IBM in the second half of the year. Siebel Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:SEBL - news), the world's largest seller of customer relationship management (CRM) software, warned its revenues would take a hit in the third and fourth quarters. Its shares tumbled to $34.90 in after-hours from $37.64 at Wednesday's close. Siebel beat Wall Street's lowered second-quarter average forecast, helped by stringent cost controls and strong maintenance, consulting and other service revenues. Tobacco heavyweight Philip Morris Cos. Inc. (NYSE:MO - news) posted a 5.4 percent rise in second-quarter profits, but the maker of Marlboro cigarettes said it sees full-year underlying earnings per share growing at the low end of a range the company gave earlier this year. Its shares eased then recovered to $46 in the aftermarket from its close of $45.48. On Wednesday, stocks slipped as a fresh round of grim earnings reports and downbeat comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan dampened hopes for a near-term rebound in the sluggish economy and sagging corporate profits. The tech-laced Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) finished with a loss of 51.15 points, or 2.47 percent, at 2,016.17, after diving more than 3 percent. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) fell 36.56 points, or 0.34 percent, to 10,569.83 -- marking a substantial recovery from its earlier loss of 122 points. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) shed 6.73 points, or 0.55 percent, to 1,207.71.