U.S. stock futures lost heavily in pre-market trading following uncertainty over who will lead Italy through the debt crisis once Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resigns. The Italian crisis is expected to weigh heavily on the U.S. market and it is expected to trade in red today.
Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures were trading lower by 1.76 percent, or 213 points, to 11,910. Nasdaq 100 futures were down 1.85 percent, or 44.25 points to 2,350.25. Standard & Poor's 500 futures were trading lower by 2.17 percent, or 27.60 points, to 1,245.60, today.
Hot Stocks of the Day: AONE, ASH, CSCO, GMCR, AIRM, TM, GM
A123 Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: AONE) reported a loss of $63.7 million, or $0.51 per share, in its fiscal 2011 third quarter, compared with a loss of $43.7 million, or $0.42 per share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped to $64.3 million from $26.2 million. Analysts expected a loss of $0.38 on revenue of $64 million.
Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) registered a net loss of $263 million, or $3.38 a share, in its FY 2011 Q4, compared with a net loss of $141 million, or $1.79 a share, in the prior-year quarter. Analysts were anticipating earnings of $0.93 a share. Quarterly revenue grew to $1.85 billion from $1.52 billion a year earlier. Analysts forecast $1.76 billion in revenue.
Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (Nasdaq: GMCR) and Air Methods Corp. (Nasdaq: AIRM) are scheduled to declare their fiscal 2012 Q1, FY 2011 Q4 and Q3 earnings, respectively, after the closing bell today. Analysts estimate net profits of $0.39, 0.48, and $1.35 per share, respectively for the companies.
Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) plans to restart production in Thailand on November 21, 2011. The automobile giant's global production in Thailand was disrupted by severe floods in the South Asian nation. Yesterday, Toyota said it was forced to suspend its earnings forecast for the full year, citing volatility in currency markets and uncertainty on resumption of normal production due to the flooding in Thailand.
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) reported net income attributable to common stockholders of $1.7 billion, or $1.03 per fully-diluted share, in its FY 2011 Q3. In the third quarter of 2010, GM's net income attributable to common stockholders was $2 billion, or $1.20 per fully-diluted share. Net revenue increased $2.6 billion to $36.7 billion compared with the third quarter of 2010.
Global Markets
The global markets remained volatile and the euro fell heavily against the dollar as any initial relief over Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi's pledge to resign faded amidst worries about Italy's debt. Yields on its 2-year and 10-year bonds were pushed to euro-era highs of over 7 percent. In Europe, Germany's DAX was down 2.64 percent, or 157.61 points, to trade at 5,803.83. France's CAC40 fell 2.32 percent, or 72.95 points, to 3,070.35. Great Britain's FTSE 100 was down 1.91 percent, or 106.58 points, to 5,460.76.
In the Asian market, China's Shanghai Composite closed higher by 0.84 percent, or 21.08 points, to 2,524.92. Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed higher by 1.71 percent, or 335.96 points, to 20,014.43. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.15 percent, or 99.93 points, to close trading at 8,755.44. However, banking stocks pushed India's BSE 30 Sensex to close the day's trading with a loss of 1.18 percent, or 207.43 points, at 17,362.10.
Market Scan
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil was trading lower by 1.47 percent at $95.38 per barrel. Gold was down 0.71 percent at $1,785.70 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro was trading lower by 1.46 percent against the U.S. dollar. The British pound was down 0.76 percent against the dollar. The dollar was down 0.10 percent against the Japanese yen.
On Tuesday, Wall Street closed on a healthy note. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.84 percent, or 101.79 points, to 12,170.18. The Nasdaq composite was up 1.20 percent, or 32.24 points, to 2,727.49. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 1.17 percent, or 14.80 points, to 1,275.92. Among other major indices, the NYSE composite index was up 1.13 percent, or 85.47 points, to 7,675.90. The AMEX composite index was up 1.36 percent, or 31.37 points, to 2,343.24.