(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures declined on Tuesday as investors remained cautious ahead of key economic data.
At 8:26 am ET,
Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures dropped 6.80 points to 973.10.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures retreated 46 points to 9024.
Nasdaq Composite Index futures declined 5.25 points to 1594.25.
Viacom Inc. (NYSE:
) reported that its second quarter net income fell 32% to $277 million, or 46 cents per share, compared with $407 million, or 65 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Excluding 3 cents per share in severance charges, adjusted earnings were 49 cents per share in the latest quarter. Revenue tumbled 14% to $3.3 billion.
Office Depot Inc (NYSE:
) said that its second-quarter net loss widened to $82 million, or 31 cents a share, from $2 million, or 1 cent a share, a year earlier. Revenue dropped 22% to $2.8 billion.
Supervalu Inc. (NYSE:
) announced that its fiscal first-quarter profit dropped to $113 million, or 53 cents a share, from $162 million, or 76 cents, in the year earlier quarter. Revenue fell to $12.7 billion from $13.3 billion.
Textron Inc. (NYSE:
) said that it swung to a second-quarter loss of $58 million, or 22 cents a share, from $258 million, or $1.01 a share, in the comparable period last year. Revenue tumbled 29% to $2.61 billion.
According to media reports,
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:
) is planning to reduce its 6,100-branch network by about 10 percent.
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:
) announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire software maker
SPSS Inc. (NASDAQ:
) for $50 a share in cash, or about $1.2 billion.
Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE:
) on Tuesday said it will acquire Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM) in a stock deal valued at $483 million, or $5.50 per each Virgin Mobile share.
On the economic front,
S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index and consumer confidence data is scheduled for release later in the day.
US stocks finished with mild gains on Monday as investors welcomed better than expected economic data.
European stocks retreated in afternoon trade. At 12:58 pm London time, the UK FTSE fell 26.57 points or 0.58% to 4,559.56. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 0.31% and 0.18%.
Asian stocks finished mixed. The Nikkei 225 slipped 1.40 points or 0.01% to 10,087.26. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong jumped 372.92 points or 1.84% to 20,624.54.
NYMEX crude oil for September delivery declined as much as 30 cents to $68.08 a barrel in electronic trading.
Disclosure: Author doesn’t own any of the stocks mentioned here.
