(By Balachander) U.S. stock-index futures pointed to a lower open on the Wall Street after a data on private-sector employment fell short of market expectations.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 52.00 points to 13,166.00. The Nasdaq Futures dipped 12.50 points to 2,706.00. Standard and Poor's 500 futures edged 6.10 points lower to 1,394.30.
Companies in the U.S. added 119,000 jobs in April versus 209,000 new jobs in March, according to ADP National Employment Report, while economists expected the private sector to create 177,000 jobs.
At 10 am ET, the Commerce Department will release a report on March factory orders, with economists expecting a 1.6 percent fall after a 1.3 percent gain in February.
On Tuesday, U.S. stocks closed on a higher note after a data showed that manufacturing in the world's largest economy expanded last month at a faster pace in nearly a year.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: (CHK, CVS, MA, SMSC, CHRS, ASNA)
In corporate news, Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE:CHK) tumbled 10.71 percent in premarket after its first-quarter adjusted earnings fell short of analysts' estimates. Excluding items, CHK earned 18 cents, while analysts expected 29 cents. Brokerage R.W. Baird downgraded its rating on Chesapeake to "Neutral" from "Outperform".
Mastercard Inc. (NYSE:MA) lost 2.04 percent in premarket following its quarterly report. The payment processor reported stronger-than-forecast quarterly earnings as jump in processed transactions and volumes drove 17 percent growth in revenue. Total operating expenses increased 14 percent.
CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE:CVS) added 1.77 percent in premarket after the health care company raised its earnings forecast for the full year following better-than-expected quarterly earnings helped by jump in revenue.
Standard Microsystems Corp. (NASDAQ:SMSC) surged 38.3 percent in premarket after Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MCHP) agreed to buy the company for $37.00 per share in cash. The deal represents a 41 percent premium to SMSC's closing price of $26.24 on Tuesday.
Charming Shoppes Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRS) rallied 23.7 percent in premarket after clothing chain Ascena Retail Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ASNA) will acquire the company for $7.35 per share, or around $890 million in cash. The deal represents a premium of 25 percent to CHRS closing price of $5.90 on Tuesday. ASNA shares gained 13.2 percent in premarket.
Global Markets:
The European markets traded in red after a report that showed that unemployment in the euro zone rose to a record high in March. Germany's DAX dipped 0.66 percent to trade at 6,716.50. France's CAC40 retreated 0.11 percent to 3,209.23. Britain's FTSE 100 declined 1.00 percent to 5,754.06.
Among the Asian markets, China's Shanghai rallied 1.75 percent to 2,438.26. The Japanese Nikkei 225 gained 0.31 percent to 9,380.25. Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 1.02 percent to close at 21,309.08. India's BSE Sensex finished flat at 17,301.91.
Market Scan:
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil futures fell 0.31 percent to $105.83 per barrel. Gold futures lost 0.17 percent to $1,659.6 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro declined 0.77 percent against the U.S. dollar to 1.3133, and the British pound lost 0.36 percent against the greenback to 1.6163. The dollar added 0.04 percent against the Japanese yen to 80.1200.