Stocks Set to Open Down on Amazon Data Wednesday October 26, 8:31 am ET
Stocks Are Set to Open Lower on Disappointing Amazon Outlook
LONDON (AP) -- Stock market futures fell Wednesday following a slight drop Tuesday on Wall Street. The disappointing outlook from online book seller Amazon.com, earnings from Dow industrials component Boeing Co. and energy market data may shape market direction.
Dow Jones futures were recently down 26 points, S&P 500 futures were off 2.6 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 2.5 points.
On Tuesday, a late rally couldn't move U.S. markets into the green, with Dow industrials losing 7 points at 10,377, S&P 500 easing 2.8 points at 1,196 and the Nasdaq Composite erasing 6.4 points at 2,109.
Weekly crude oil and gasoline inventory data will be the highlight of an otherwise empty data calendar, with crude and gasoline inventories expected to climb while distillates are seen falling.
Crude oil was recently trading below $62 a barrel ahead of the data. The dollar was a bit stronger versus both the euro and the yen.
Overseas, a positive reaction to DaimlerChrysler third-quarter results, Anglo American's restructuring plan and gains in resource stocks boosted European markets. Japan's Nikkei 225 also ended higher, though the Hang Seng was flat and losses were seen in South Korea's main stock-market index.
Of companies in focus, Amazon.com late Tuesday produced a fourth-quarter sales forecast below consensus forecasts and sported a 44 percent profit decline. Amazon was downgraded by Citigroup and Deutsche Bank following the results.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide said third-quarter net profit tumbled 64 percent to $39 million, or 17 cents a share, with revenue up 11.9 percent at $1.5 billion. Starwood said excluding a tax expense on repatriating earnings and a tax expense related to its 1998 sale of ITT World Directories, it would have earned 58 cents a share, against the Thomson First Call-compiled analyst view of 52 cents a share.
Hair salon owner Regis Corp. said first-quarter net income fell 12 percent at $22.2 million, or 48 cents a share, with revenue up 15 percent to $584 million. Same-store sales rose 0.7 percent in the quarter. Regis said earnings were three cents below company guidance due exclusively to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Regis is looking for second-quarter earnings between 61 cents and 66 cents on 13 percent better revenue, and is looking for fiscal year earnings of $2.39 on 10 percent better revenue.
Toyota Motor Corp. is expected to boost its global production to more than 9.2 million units in 2006, making it almost certain the group will surpass General Motors Corp. to become the world's top automaker in terms of output, Japan's leading business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
Lockheed Martin is working with private-equity firms including Warburg Pincus, Blackstone Group and Texas Pacific Group to form a buyout bid of Computer Sciences Corp., The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing anonymous sources. Like several of its defense peers, Lockheed Martin has sought to remold itself as an information-technology company, the report noted
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