Stocks faced a lower open as traders looked past solid earnings at Coca-Cola (KO:NYSE - news - research) and IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI:Nasdaq - news - research) and got ready for Alan Greenspan's testimony in Washington.
Index futures recently showed the S&P 500 trading about 2.5 points below fair value, while the Nasdaq 100 was set for a 4-point decline. The 10-year Treasury bond was up 1/32 to yield 4.09%, while the dollar rose sharply against the yen on a report the Japanese economy was in a recession last year. The dollar was lower against the euro.
Oil was higher ahead of an Energy Department report that is expected to show that U.S. crude inventories inched up last week. The March crude contract was recently up 4 cents to $47 a barrel. According to Reuters, analysts expect a 1-million-barrel climb in oil inventories in the 10:30 a.m. EST report.
Overseas markets were mostly lower, with London's FTSE 100 recently down 0.2% to 5049 and Germany's Xetra DAX falling 0.6% to 4377. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.4% overnight to 11,602, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.1% to 14,015.
Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan begins the first of two days of Capitol Hill testimony this morning, one of his last official appearances before he retires within a year. As always, the stock and bond markets will be tuned in, paying close attention for clues about the next phase of the Fed's tightening campaign. The central bank has so far enacted six straight quarter-point increases in the fed funds rate, which now sits at 2.5%.
In corporate news, Coca-Cola said fourth-quarter earnings jumped 30% from a year ago to $1.2 billion, or 50 cents a share, despite flat sales. The company also reported earnings of 46 cents a share that "excluded items that impacted comparability," and this appeared to beat the Wall Street consensus by 6 cents. The stock added 59 cents to $43.45 on Instinet. IAC swung to a fourth-quarter loss of $46 million, or 7 cents a share, weighed down by two impairment charges that reduced earnings by 28 cents a share. Revenue rose 9% from a year ago to $1.72 billion. On an adjusted basis, the Internet commerce company earned $250 million, or 33 cents a share, beating estimates by 7 cents. IAC was recently up 98 cents, or 4.1%, to $24.98.
Index futures recently showed the S&P 500 trading about 2.5 points below fair value, while the Nasdaq 100 was set for a 4-point decline. The 10-year Treasury bond was up 1/32 to yield 4.09%, while the dollar rose sharply against the yen on a report the Japanese economy was in a recession last year. The dollar was lower against the euro.
Oil was higher ahead of an Energy Department report that is expected to show that U.S. crude inventories inched up last week. The March crude contract was recently up 4 cents to $47 a barrel. According to Reuters, analysts expect a 1-million-barrel climb in oil inventories in the 10:30 a.m. EST report.
Overseas markets were mostly lower, with London's FTSE 100 recently down 0.2% to 5049 and Germany's Xetra DAX falling 0.6% to 4377. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.4% overnight to 11,602, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.1% to 14,015.
Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan begins the first of two days of Capitol Hill testimony this morning, one of his last official appearances before he retires within a year. As always, the stock and bond markets will be tuned in, paying close attention for clues about the next phase of the Fed's tightening campaign. The central bank has so far enacted six straight quarter-point increases in the fed funds rate, which now sits at 2.5%.
In corporate news, Coca-Cola said fourth-quarter earnings jumped 30% from a year ago to $1.2 billion, or 50 cents a share, despite flat sales. The company also reported earnings of 46 cents a share that "excluded items that impacted comparability," and this appeared to beat the Wall Street consensus by 6 cents. The stock added 59 cents to $43.45 on Instinet. IAC swung to a fourth-quarter loss of $46 million, or 7 cents a share, weighed down by two impairment charges that reduced earnings by 28 cents a share. Revenue rose 9% from a year ago to $1.72 billion. On an adjusted basis, the Internet commerce company earned $250 million, or 33 cents a share, beating estimates by 7 cents. IAC was recently up 98 cents, or 4.1%, to $24.98.
japan slips into recession and the yen moves 120+- pips to 105.45...wow how they remain dollar negative...usa growth exceeds japan...eurozone and 10 year rates have 30 to 60 point spread in them...interest rate differential...looks like everybody still sees yuan reval in coming months cause there certainly is not much reason to own yen imo...
