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economic cliffhanger futures point to mixed open Economic cliffhanger
Futures point to mixed open ahead of latest reading on GDP, existing home sales.
May 25, 2006: 6:31 AM EDT


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Investors were waiting to see details from reports that could show the fastest U.S. economic growth in three years as well as further cooling of the real estate market.

U.S. stock futures were mixed in early trading, indicating a flat or mixed open for U.S. markets, ahead of reports on gross domestic product and existing home sales.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect GDP, the broad measure of the nation's economic activity, to show a 5.8 percent annual growth rate for the first quarter, up from the original 4.8 percent estimate for the period released a month ago. Economists will be closely watching the so called price deflators included in the report to see what is going on with inflationary pressures.

Existing home sales are expected to show a 2.4 percent decline to an annual sales pace of 6.75 million homes in April when the National Association of Realtors releases its report at 10 a.m. But a reading on new home sales for April came in above estimates Wednesday.

Oil prices were slightly higher after the sell-off Wednesday sparked by a larger than expected increase in gasoline inventories in a weekly report.

The June light crude futures contract for NYMEX was up 29 cents to $70.15 in electronic trading, while the July contract for Brent crude gained 26 cents to $69.48

Major markets in Asia closed lower Thursday, while major European markets were up in early trading.

Treasury prices were little changed, leaving the yield on the benchmark 10-year note at the 5.04 percent level reached late Thursday. The dollar was higher against the euro but lower against the yen.

In corporate news, the Wall Street Journal reported that Regions Financial (Research) has agreed to buy AmSouth Bancorp (Research) for about $10 billion. But the deal is worth 2 percent less than AmSouth's most recent closing price, which the paper says could make it difficult to win shareholder approval of the deal.

MasterCard priced its initial public offering of stock worth at $39 a share, raising about $2.4 billion from the shares that are set to start trading Thursday. That is below the $40 to $43 forecasted range. Shares will trade under the symbol "MA" on the New York Stock Exchange. Internet telephone service provider Vonage Holdings (Research), which saw its IPO start trading Wednesday, recorded the worst market debut this year as its shares slid nearly 13 percent on its first day of trading Wednesday.

Intel (Research) CEO Paul Otellini denied speculation on Thursday it might spin off and list its memory chip business through its own IPO.

For a more detailed look at the markets before the open, click here.

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