Stocks looked mixed at best for today's opening bell. Futures pare
gains, then turn lower in the wake of the latest weekly jobless claims
report.
Initial applications for state unemployment benefits rose by 15,000
to 576,000. It was the highest level since July 25. The four-week
average of initial claims rose by 4,250 to 570,000, and continuing
claims climbed as well.
Futures had remained marginally firmer throughout early trading,
though did pare some of their early gains. Advances for Chinese shares
sent the broader global equity market higher and the U.S. had looked
likely to follow suit.
Oil declined after the economic news. September crude was last down $0.03 at $72.39 a barrel.
Tech shares could see some help from a Google (
GOOG) upgrade.
But NetApp (
NTAP) continues its decline after turning into the red
in extended-hours trading Wednesday. NetApp (NTAP) reports Q1 revs of
$838 mln, ahead of the analyst mean of $829 mln on Thomson Reuters.
Non-GAAP EPS was $0.22 pe share, two cents better than the Street view.
Citing reduced visibility related to the macroeconomic environment,
the company said it is not providing Q2 revenue guidance. NetApp
estimates non-GAAP other income for the second quarter of fiscal year
2010 to remain at similar levels to those reported in the first quarter
of fiscal year 2010. The company estimates non-GAAP gross margins for
the second quarter of fiscal year 2010 to be between 62.5% and 63.0%.
U.S. PRE-MARKET INDICATORS
-Dow Industrial futures up 11 points.
-S&P 500 futures up 4 points.
-Nasdaq 100 futures up 5 points.
-Nasdaq-100 Pre-Market Indicator up 2.71 at 1599.32.
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
Nikkei up 1.8%
Hang Seng down 1.6%
FTSE-100 up 1.1%
PRE-MARKET SECTOR WATCH
(-,+) Large cap tech: mixed
(-,+) Chip stocks: mixed
(+,-) Small cap stocks: mixed
(+,-) Drug stocks: mixed
(+,-) Software stocks: mixed
(+,-) Internet stocks: mixed
(-,+) Financial stocks: mixed
(-,+) Auto stocks: mixed
(-,+) Airline stocks: mixed
(+,-) Retail stocks: mixed
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) GME (-6.6%) misses with Q2, sets guidance below Street.
(-) GFG (-18%) reportedly to be bought by BBVA.
(-) SHLD (-12.5%) misses with unexpected adjusted loss.
(-) RF (-0.7%) gets analyst downgrade.
(-) NTAP (-4.5%) continues downside evening reaction to earnings.
(-) PETM (-12.4%) continues downside evening slide after guidance miss.
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) UBS (+5.6%) gains as Switzerland reportedly sells stake near high, continued reaction to IRS settlement.
(+) HNZ (+2.3%) beats with Q1 results.
(+) GOOG (+1.8%) gets analyst upgrade.
(+) SOL (+13.4%) jumps on contract.
(+) DKS (+9.8%) beats with Q2 and guides above Street.
