BEFORE THE BELL: US Stock Futures Slightly Mixed
U.S. stock index futures were trading slightly mixed Wednesday after investors digested strong earnings data from Apple Inc. and awaited results from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5 points to 11816, while the S&P 500 futures fell 0.8 points to 1293.90. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.25 point to 2331.
Strategists said investors continue to show a hearty, underlying appetite for risk, which bodes well for equities.
"Overall, any weakness tends to be short-lived," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index, with investors gunning for the 12,000 level on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Strategists at Lloyds TSB said in a note: "All in all, the 'risk-on/reflation' trade seems in rude health, across asset classes, and keeps defying our expectation for a correction in [the first quarter]."
After Tuesday's closing bell, Apple Inc. (AAPL) said first-quarter net income jumped to $6 billion, or $6.43 a share from $3.38 billion, or $3.67 a share, for the same period last year. Revenue jumped more than 70% to $26.74 billion on strong holiday sales of the iPhone and iPad.
Apple shares fell by more than 2% in Tuesday's regular session, a day after the company announced that Chief Executive Steve Jobs would be going on another medical leave. Apple shares rose 1% in U.S. premarket trade on Wednesday.
Shares of International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) gained 2.4% in premarket trade. The firm said late Tuesday that its second-quarter net income nearly doubled to $143.7 million, or 62 cents a share. Revenue rose 50% to $383.6 million.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) said Wednesday that fourth-quarter profit from continuing operations fell 3.1% to $690 million, or 55 cents a share, including restructuring charges of 4 cents. Analysts surveyed by Factset Research had produced a consensus forecast of 57 cents a share.
Ahead of Wednesday's opening bell, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) is expected to post fourth-quarter earnings of $3.76 a share, according to a survey of analysts by FactSet Research.
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) is also expected to report ahead of the open. The consensus estimate is for earnings of 61 cents a share.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Citigroup Inc.'s (C) chief executive officer, Vikram Pandit, plans to name John Havens as president and chief operating officer as part of a structural overhaul. Havens has led the bank's institutional clients group for the past three years.
The Commerce Department is scheduled to release December housing starts data at 8:30 a.m. EST. The Dow Jones forecast is for a drop of 0.2% to a seasonally-adjusted 554,000. Starts rose 3.9% in November to a 555,000 rate.
European stocks were mostly lower in late morning trade, with losses for ASML Holding NV (ASML.AE, ASML) weighing on the technology sector in the wake of the firm's results.
Most Asian markets advanced Wednesday, cheered by results from Apple and IBM, while a weaker dollar lifted commodity-sector shares.
U.S. stocks ended higher on Tuesday as upbeat manufacturing data boosted the energy and materials sectors, more than offsetting a sub-par earnings report from Citigroup and worries about the health of Apple's CEO Steve Jobs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 50.55 points to close at 11837.03, while the S&P 500 ended with a gain of 1.78 points at 1295.02. The Nasdaq 100 finished with a 0.2% gain at 2328.79.
The Dow last week posted its seventh consecutive weekly gain, with Tuesday's advance taking the index to its highest level since mid-2008.
The U.S. dollar was weaker versus most major rivals, slipping 0.5% versus the Japanese currency to trade at 82.26 yen. The euro rose 0.6% against the dollar to $1.3476.
Gold futures rose $4.70 to $1,373.10 an ounce. Nymex crude-oil futures gained 56 cents to trade at $91.94 a barrel in electronic trade.
U.S. stock index futures were trading slightly mixed Wednesday after investors digested strong earnings data from Apple Inc. and awaited results from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5 points to 11816, while the S&P 500 futures fell 0.8 points to 1293.90. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.25 point to 2331.
Strategists said investors continue to show a hearty, underlying appetite for risk, which bodes well for equities.
"Overall, any weakness tends to be short-lived," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index, with investors gunning for the 12,000 level on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Strategists at Lloyds TSB said in a note: "All in all, the 'risk-on/reflation' trade seems in rude health, across asset classes, and keeps defying our expectation for a correction in [the first quarter]."
After Tuesday's closing bell, Apple Inc. (AAPL) said first-quarter net income jumped to $6 billion, or $6.43 a share from $3.38 billion, or $3.67 a share, for the same period last year. Revenue jumped more than 70% to $26.74 billion on strong holiday sales of the iPhone and iPad.
Apple shares fell by more than 2% in Tuesday's regular session, a day after the company announced that Chief Executive Steve Jobs would be going on another medical leave. Apple shares rose 1% in U.S. premarket trade on Wednesday.
Shares of International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) gained 2.4% in premarket trade. The firm said late Tuesday that its second-quarter net income nearly doubled to $143.7 million, or 62 cents a share. Revenue rose 50% to $383.6 million.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) said Wednesday that fourth-quarter profit from continuing operations fell 3.1% to $690 million, or 55 cents a share, including restructuring charges of 4 cents. Analysts surveyed by Factset Research had produced a consensus forecast of 57 cents a share.
Ahead of Wednesday's opening bell, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) is expected to post fourth-quarter earnings of $3.76 a share, according to a survey of analysts by FactSet Research.
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) is also expected to report ahead of the open. The consensus estimate is for earnings of 61 cents a share.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Citigroup Inc.'s (C) chief executive officer, Vikram Pandit, plans to name John Havens as president and chief operating officer as part of a structural overhaul. Havens has led the bank's institutional clients group for the past three years.
The Commerce Department is scheduled to release December housing starts data at 8:30 a.m. EST. The Dow Jones forecast is for a drop of 0.2% to a seasonally-adjusted 554,000. Starts rose 3.9% in November to a 555,000 rate.
European stocks were mostly lower in late morning trade, with losses for ASML Holding NV (ASML.AE, ASML) weighing on the technology sector in the wake of the firm's results.
Most Asian markets advanced Wednesday, cheered by results from Apple and IBM, while a weaker dollar lifted commodity-sector shares.
U.S. stocks ended higher on Tuesday as upbeat manufacturing data boosted the energy and materials sectors, more than offsetting a sub-par earnings report from Citigroup and worries about the health of Apple's CEO Steve Jobs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 50.55 points to close at 11837.03, while the S&P 500 ended with a gain of 1.78 points at 1295.02. The Nasdaq 100 finished with a 0.2% gain at 2328.79.
The Dow last week posted its seventh consecutive weekly gain, with Tuesday's advance taking the index to its highest level since mid-2008.
The U.S. dollar was weaker versus most major rivals, slipping 0.5% versus the Japanese currency to trade at 82.26 yen. The euro rose 0.6% against the dollar to $1.3476.
Gold futures rose $4.70 to $1,373.10 an ounce. Nymex crude-oil futures gained 56 cents to trade at $91.94 a barrel in electronic trade.
