U.S. Stocks To Open Mixed Ahead Of Earnings
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks were poised for a slightly lower open on Tuesday, as investors braced themselves for the first-quarter earnings season, which kicks off with results from aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. after the close.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 6 to 12,633, while those for the S&P 500 index eased 1.70 points to 1,452.80.
Nasdaq 100 futures, meanwhile, were down 0.5 points at 1,823.
Among blue chips, Alcoa will garner attention before its results. Alcoa was the best performing Dow component during the first quarter, and analysts expect the company to have reported a rise in adjusted earnings per share.
Citigroup will also be in focus ahead of a presentation on Wednesday on job cuts. The New York Times reported that the bank will cut or reassign 26,000 positions.
Among technology shares, chip equipment makers may get a boost. Applied Materials Inc. rose 1.7% after being upgraded to buy from neutral at Banc of America Securities, which cited the company's move into the solar-power equipment market.
But hard-disk maker Seagate Technology fell 7% before the open after warning that fiscal third-quarter revenue will be about $2.8 billion, down from an early forecast of $2.9 billion to $3 billion.
U.S. stocks finished mostly flat on Monday, save for the railroad sector, which rallied on Warren Buffett's disclosure of a 10.9% stake in Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The Dow industrials rose 8.9 points, the Nasdaq Composite lost 2 points and the S&P 500 rose 0.9 of a point.
Merger news
Merger news continued on Tuesday, but cast a shadow of doubt on Monday's big story. Dow Chemical said it's not interested in a leveraged buyout offer. The U.K. tabloid The Sunday Express had reported that a group of companies were prepping a $50 billion buyout.
And Imperial Tobacco's second offer for Spanish-French cigarette maker Altadis was rejected. The new bid was valued at 12 billion euros ($16 billion).
Cemex lifted its bid for Australian building materials group Rinker by 22% to $15.3 billion.
Nike could attract attention after France's PPR offered $7.1 billion for rival sneaker maker Puma.
Other markets
Crude-oil futures rose 29 cents at $61.80 a barrel, and gold futures rose $4.80 to $681.70 an ounce.
There's not too much on the economic release docket, with weekly chain store sales and consumer confidence figures due. Fed Governor Frederic Mishkin will be speaking on monetary policy and the dual mandate, while two other non-voting Fed speakers also will deliver speeches.
The Bank of Japan as expected held interest rates at 0.5%.
The dollar edged 0.2% lower at 119.07 yen, while the euro climbed 0.5% at $1.3420.
By Nick Godt