dow futures down

Inflation cloud

Futures turn lower after PPI posts biggest jump in 15 years, offsets positive earnings news.
October 18, 2005: 8:42 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks looked set to open lower Tuesday after a government report showed the biggest monthly jump in wholesale inflation in 15 years.

U.S. stock futures fell in early trading after being up slightly before the report.

The Labor Department said the Producer Prce Index rose 1.9 percent in September, the largest monthly gain since January 1990. Analyst had predicted a 1.2 percent increase, according to Briefing.com.


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Futures were up earlier on positive earnings news.

IBM (Research) posted third quarter earnings that blew past forecasts after the market close Monday, with strong results out of its closely watched services unit. Shares of Big Blue were up 2.2 percent in Inet trading early Tuesday.

IBM doesn't give earnings guidance, but its executives were bullish in comments to analysts after the report.

"They are clearly guiding us up for December, so I think there is a chance for a very strong finish for calendar year '05," said Mark Stahlman, an analyst at Caris & Co., in comments to CNN/Money late Monday.

In comments in Japan Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said that the recent run up in oil will hit the economy and could result in lower energy use. But he said it should not have the severe economic impact of the 1970's oil shocks.

Oil prices were off in early trading on reports that Tropical Storm Wilma had stalled in the Caribbean. The threat that the storm posed to oil facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast drove up prices Monday.

The November light crude futures contract for NYMEX lost 59 cents to $63.77 a barrel in electronic trading, while the December contract for Brent crude fell 74 cents to $59.83.

"If it does turn away toward Florida it will be a non-event," Colin Tang, an oil trader at investment bank Calyon in Singapore, told Reuters Tuesday. "The market got ahead of itself on Monday."

Major markets in Asia closed mixed Tuesday. Major European markets also were mixed in early trading.

Treasury prices were little changed, leaving the yield on the 10-year note at 4.49 percent. The dollar gained ground against on the euro and the yen.

In corporate news, futures and commodities firm Refco announced late Monday that a private equity group agreed to buy its core futures brokerage business for $768 million. It also announced certain subsidiaries had filed for bankruptcy protection.

Four Dow components were set to report earnings Tuesday, led by No. 1 chipmaker Intel (Research), which is due to report after the bell.