(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures pointed to a weaker start on Wednesday after ADP report showed private companies eliminated 532,000 jobs in May.
At 8:26 am ET, Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures dropped 4.20 points to 938.40. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures shed 29 points to 8685. Nasdaq Composite Index futures decreased 2.50 points to 1476.
ADP survey on Wednesday reported that a total of 532,000 private-sector jobs were lost in May. Economists had projected a drop of 525,000 private sector jobs.
Early on Wednesday,
Toll Brothers Inc. (
NYSE: TOL) reported that its fiscal second quarter loss narrowed to $83.2 million, or 52 cents a share, from $93.7 million, or 59 cents a share in the prior year quarter. Analysts on average were looking for a loss of 50 cents a share. Last month, Toll Brothers reported that quarterly revenue declined 51% to $398.3 million from $818 million.
Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (
NYSE: HOV) posted smaller quarterly loss of $118.6 million, or $1.50 a share, compared to a loss of $340.7 million, or $5.29 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue nearly halved to $398 million from $776.4 million.
Late on Tuesday, health insurer
Aetna Inc. (
NYSE: AET) slashed its forecast for 2009 operating profit, citing higher projected commercial medical costs and lower projected Medicare revenue. The company now anticipates operating earnings in the range of $3.55 to $3.70 per share, excluding items. It previously forecast $3.85 to $3.95 per share for the year.
Meanwhile,
NetApp Inc. (
NASDAQ: NTAP) on Wednesday raised its offer for
Data Domain Inc. (
NASDAQ: DDUP) on Wednesday to $30 a share in cash and stock from $25 to match a bid from
EMC Corp. (
NYSE: EMC). Computer storage giant EMC Corp. made an unsolicited offer of $1.8 billion dollars or $30 a share for Data Domain, setting up a potential bidding war with
NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP), which offered to buy the company for $1.5 billion dollars or $25 a share two weeks ago.
On the front of economic data,
factory orders and
ISM services data are due for release at 10:00 am ET. Investors will be also focusing on
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony in Congress later in the day.
European stocks retreated in afternoon trade. At 12:50 pm London time, the UK FTSE fell 88.76 points or 1.98% to 4,388.26. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 0.65% and 1.21% respectively.
Asian stocks finished with gains. The Nikkei 225 advanced 37.36 points or 0.38% to 9,741.67. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong rose 187.39 points or 1.02% to 18,576.47.
NYMEX Crude oil for July delivery declined as much as 72 cents, or 1.1%, to $67.83 a barrel in electronic trading.
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.
