dow stocks fall in europe, paced by 3m

My 3500 level is looking better and better as each day unfolds, just wait when we are paying $1.50 for petrol it will cripple the economy

Dow Stocks Fall in Europe, Paced by 3M; Futures Little Changed
April 12 (Bloomberg) -- Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks trading in Europe fell, paced by 3M Co. and Hewlett-Packard Co. U.S. stock-index futures were little changed.

Genentech Inc., the world's second-biggest biotechnology company, slipped in Germany even after saying first-quarter profit rose 61 percent.

Twenty Dow average stocks dropped and one advanced as of 8:54 a.m. in London. Dow average futures expiring in June slid 9 to 10,454. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures decreased 0.6 to 1183.1 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures retreated 0.5 to 1485.5.

3M, which makes 55,000 products including Scotch tape and Post-it Notes, declined 56 cents to $83.91 in Germany. Hewlett- Packard, the world's second-largest personal-computer maker, lost 11 cents to $21.46.

Genentech fell 29 cents to $56.89. The company reported net income in the first three months rose to $284.2 million from $176.6 million a year earlier, boosted by sales of the company's two newest cancer drugs, Avastin and Tarceva.

Revenue climbed 50 percent to $1.46 billion, the company said yesterday.

Abbott Laboratories, the maker of hundreds of products ranging from the Synthroid thyroid pill to HIV tests, and Pepsi Bottling Group Inc., the world's second-largest distributor of soft drinks, will report quarterly earnings before markets open today. Neither stock traded in Europe.

Earnings Season

About 31 companies in the S&P 500 are expected to report quarterly results this week, including General Electric Co., the world's second-largest company by market value, and Citigroup Inc., the biggest financial-services company.

BMC Software Inc., the maker of programs that manage computer networks, said after markets closed yesterday that earnings last quarter trailed its previous forecast.

Net income excluding some items was between 8 cents and 12 cents a share in the three months ended March 31. The company in February forecast earnings per share of at least 17 cents. BMC will report final results on April 29. Its shares slid 2 percent to $14.35 in extended trading in the U.S., and didn't trade in Europe.

Among economic reports, the Commerce Department will release figures on the trade gap at 8:30 a.m. Washington time. The Federal Reserve will release the minutes of its last meeting on March 22, at 2:00 p.m. Washington time.

U.S. stocks withstood losses tied to Ford Motor Co.'s reduced profit forecast yesterday, as a rise in oil prices lifted energy shares. The S&P 500 had its smallest move in two years amid the slowest trading of 2005.

The S&P 500 ended up 0.01 at 1181.21, matching a move of the same amount on Jan. 10, 2003. The Dow average dropped 0.1 percent to 10,448.56. Losses in shares of Apple Computer Inc. weighed on the Nasdaq Composite Index, which declined 0.4 percent.