(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer) US stock futures pointed to a weaker start on Tuesday as investors remained cautious ahead of release of key housing and consumer data.
At 8:0 am ET, the S&P 500 futures fell 1.80 points to 1057.20. The Dow Jones Industrial average futures decreased 5 points to 9723. The Nasdaq Composite futures lost 6.25 points to 1716.50.
Late on Monday, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services downgraded MBIA Inc.'s (NYSE:
MBI) main bond-insurance unit to noninvestment grade, or junk, saying that the company may suffer more losses from guarantees it sold during the credit boom.
Sequenom Inc. (NASDAQ:
SQNM) on Monday fired its four executives and three other employees, including its president and CEO and the executive in charge of research and development, after an investigation into the mishandling of data related to its prenatal test for Down syndrome.
The second largest pc maker Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:
DELL) on Monday unveiled its high-end personal computer called Latitude Z.
Silicon Image Inc. (NASDAQ:
SIMG) on Monday lowered its third quarter revenue forecast to a range of $37 million to $39 million, down from its July target of $44 million to $46 million.
According to reports from the New York Post, hedge-fund manager John Paulson is considering a plan to save troubled lender CIT Group (NYSE:
CIT) through a merger with IndyMac Federal Bank.
Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:
SBUX), the world's largest coffee shop operator, will start selling Tuesday its VIA Ready Brew- an instant, just-add-water coffee that comes in packets- at all U.S. and Canadian stores.
Early on Tuesday, drugstore chain Walgreen Co. (NYSE:
WAG) said that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit slipped to $436 million, or 44 cents a share, from $443 million, or 45 cents a share, in the prior year period. Quarterly revenue climbed to $15.7 billion from $14.6 billion.
On the economic front, Case-Shiller housing price index and consumer confidence data are due for release at 09:00 am ET.
US stocks rallied on Monday as a rise in merger and acquisition activity lifted investor sentiment.
European stocks retreated in afternoon trade. At 12:26 pm London time, the UK FTSE lost 22.53 points or 0.44% to 5,143.17. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 0.53% and 0.46% respectively.
Asian stocks finished up. The Nikkei 225 rose 90.68 points or o.91% to 10,100.20. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong jumped 424.76 points or 2.06% to 21,013.17.
NYMEX crude oil for November delivery declined as much as 9 cents or 0.6% to $66.45 a barrel in electronic trading.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
