dow average stocks in europe drop

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Dow Average Stocks in Europe Drop; Shares of Wal-Mart Decline
April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks trading in Europe declined, paced by Hewlett-Packard Co. and Wal- Mart Stores Inc. Stock-index futures were little changed.

``Investors are worried about growth slowing and the fact that inflationary pressures seem to be increasing,'' said Peter Kaye, a London-based fund manager at Dalton Strategic Partnership, which oversees $1.3 billion including shares of Kimberley-Clark Corp. ``There's plenty of negative drivers out there.''

MCI Inc. climbed in Germany after the company said a $9.75 billion takeover bid from Qwest Communications International Inc. is superior to one from Verizon Communications Inc., putting pressure on Verizon to increase its offer or walk away. Premcor Inc. may advance after Valero Energy Corp. agreed to buy the oil refiner for $6.9 billion in cash and stock.

Fifteen of 25 of the Dow average companies trading in Europe fell as of 10:39 a.m. in London. Dow average futures expiring in June lost 8 to 10,180. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures declined 1 to 1156.20 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures slipped 0.5 to 1431.

Hewlett-Packard, the world's second-largest personal- computer maker, fell 16 cents to $20.62 in Germany. Wal-Mart Stores, the largest retailer, dropped 9 cents to $46.72.

Microsoft Corp. and Procter & Gamble Co. are among the 170 S&P 500 members to disclose results this week. Along with the previous five sessions, the next five are among the busiest for financial results.

About 15 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report earnings today, including Kimberly-Clark, SBC Communications Inc., and Reebok International Ltd. Of the S&P 500 companies reporting first-quarter earnings so far, 66.8 percent, or 143, have exceeded analysts' estimates provided by Thomson Financial.

MCI, Verizon

MCI rose $2.56 to $29.25. Verizon, the largest U.S. local- telephone company, may raise its $7.62 billion bid for MCI as early as this week after MCI declared Qwest's rival offer superior, people familiar with the plans said. Neither Verizon nor Quest stock traded in Europe.

Valero Energy, the top performer this year in the S&P 500, agreed to buy Premcor to become the largest refiner in North America. Valero will issue $3.5 billion in stock and pay $3.4 billion in cash. Shares of neither company traded in Europe.

DoubleClick Inc., an Internet advertising company, lost 8 cents to $8.49 in Germany. Hellman & Friedman LLC, a San Francisco buyout firm agreed to buy DoubleClick for $1.1 billion, giving shareholders $8.50 cash for each of their shares. That's a 15.6 percent premium from April 20, the day before a report on a possible buyout pushed the stock up 16.5 percent.

Microsoft Earnings

Microsoft fell 2 cents to $24.96, also in German trading. The world's biggest software maker may say third-quarter earnings almost doubled to at least 23 cents a share, according to Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s Rick Sherlund, the top-ranked software analyst by Institutional Investor magazine.

Before some legal and stock-option costs, profit likely was 32 cents, the average of 27 analysts' estimates in a Thomson Financial survey. Sales probably rose 7 percent to $9.82 billion. The earnings report is due after the U.S. market closes on April 28.

Procter & Gamble dropped 19 cents to $53.70 in Germany. The largest U.S. consumer goods maker probably had the smallest quarterly profit gain in seven quarters, hurt by paper-product rivals and rising pulp prices. Procter & Gamble is expected to report on April 28 after U.S. markets close that earnings per share rose to 61 cents, the average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Inflation Data

The S&P 500 has dropped 2.4 percent in April as economic reports showed a slowdown in job growth and retail sales, as well as a drop in consumer confidence. Costco Wholesale Corp., the No. 1 U.S. warehouse-club retailer, said last week that profit this quarter will miss analysts' estimates.

``The consumer clearly is slowing,'' Kaye said. ``The question is, do the stocks actually reflect that slowdown, or are investors too pessimistic? I'd rather give it another quarter of earnings before diving in.''

Kimberly-Clark, the maker of Kleenex tissues and Huggies diapers, may say first-quarter profit excluding some gains and losses rose 2.2 percent to 98 cents a share, based on Thomson Financial estimates.

SBC Communications, the second-largest U.S. telephone company, may post profit per share of 33 cents, excluding some gains or losses, based on estimates by Thomson Financial. That's 8 percent lower than a year earlier.

Reebok, Broadwing

Reebok, the second-largest U.S. maker of athletic shoes, is expected to say first quarter earnings rose 9.5 percent to 69 cents a share excluding some gains and losses, according to Thomson Financial estimates.

Shares of Kimberly-Clark, SBC Communications and Reebok didn't trade in European markets.

Broadwing Corp. lost 11 cents to $4.17 in Germany. The fiber- optic network operator said Jim Bannantine resigned as president to pursue other interests. It didn't name a successor. The company also said it may sell its optical convergence switch product to focus on its telecommunications services business.

Plantronics Inc. increased 28 cents to $36.48. Shares of the maker of cordless telephone headsets may rise to the mid-$40s as sales to office workers increase, Barron's reported, without citing anyone.

Realtors Report

The National Association of Realtors may say U.S. sales of previously owned homes were unchanged in March at a 6.79 million annual rate, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News Survey of economists. The report is due at 10 a.m. Washington time.

Last week, the S&P 500 Index rose 0.8 percent, the Dow average gained 0.7 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.3 percent.

The Dow average lost 60.89, or 0.6 percent, to 10,157.71 on April 22. The S&P 500 fell 7.83, or 0.7 percent, to 1152.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 30.22, or 1.5 percent, to 1932.19.

Asian stocks advanced today. The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index, which tracks more than 900 companies, climbed 0.3 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.3 percent.