usa stocks ready to finish strong

Stocks ready to finish strong
The week could end with gains as investors become more hopeful that the Fed won't raise rates next month.
July 28 2006: 6:24 AM EDT


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stock markets were poised to open higher Friday as investors, seeing signs of an economic slowdown, hope that the Federal Reserve won't raise interest rates in early August.

At 6:20 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures pointed to a higher open for the major market gauges.

Confirmation of a slower economy could come before the market open, when the government issues its first reading of second-quarter gross domestic product.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that GDP grew at 3 percent, down from the 5.6 percent in the final reading of growth in the first quarter.

Also being watched in Friday's reports are the PCE and core PCE, the closely watched measure of prices paid by individuals in the quarter, as well as a separate report from the Labor Department, the Employment Cost Index, which measures inflationary pressures being caused by wages and benefits.

The ECI is forecast to have risen by 0.8 percent in the second quarter, after a 0.6 percent gain in the previous three-month period.

With economists and investors still debating whether the Federal Reserve will raise rates at its Aug. 8 meeting, the inflation readings could be as or more important as the GDP's broad measure of the nation's economic activity.

After the market opens, the University of Michigan will release its revised reading on consumer confidence in July. Economists are forecasting that index will stay at 83.

Oil prices turned lower. U.S. light crude eased 33 cents in electronic trading to $74.21 a barrel, while Brent crude trading in London was down 19 cents at $74.82.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year note was 5.04 percent, down from 5.08 percent late Thursday. The dollar was higher against the euro but up against the yen.

Major markets in Asia closed mixed, with Japanese and Korean indexes higher and other major markets lower. Stocks in Europe were lower in early trading.

In corporate news, Wal-Mart Stores (Charts) announced it is pulling out of Germany and taking a $1 billion charge related to the move. The world's No. 1 retailer is selling its 85 stores there to the supermarket chain Metro. Shares of the Dow component edged slightly higher in Frankfurt trading.

Earnings due Friday include Chevron (Charts), the nation's No. 2 oil company, which is forecast to see second-quarter earnings rise 26 percent to $2.21 a share.

More on U.S. markets ahead of the open.
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