Stocks head toward flat opening |
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Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:08
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NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stock futures hinted at a flat opening on Wall Street Thursday, a day after comments from the Federal Reserve set off a big rally.Wall Street's perception that the Fed opened the way to a possible reduction in interest rates drove the Dow Jones industrials higher by about 159 points Wednesday and led the blue chip index to its best three-day performance since November 2004. Stocks in Asia and Europe followed suit Thursday, showing strong gains.Dow futures expiring in June rose 1 point, or 0.01 percent, to 12,524. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures slipped 1.30, or 0.09 percent, to 1,443.70, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 2.00, or 0.11 percent, to 1,823.00.The Fed's long-awaited comments about the state of the overall economy will be followed by reports that could provide insights into individual industries from retailing to housing.In addition, the Conference Board plans to report its index of leading indicators, a widely followed economic forecast gauge, for February. Wall Street expects a decline of 0.5 percent, compared with the increase of 0.1 percent seen for the previous month.The Labor Department is expected to release weekly figures on unemployment benefit claims.Earnings reports are due Thursday from Barnes & Noble Inc., Borders Group Inc., Nike Inc. and homebuilder KB Home.Technology shares could come under pressure following a profit warning by Motorola Inc. The maker of mobile phones warned it will swing to a first-quarter loss amid a further decline in sales.Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Banking and insurance highlights to 15:45 GMT 