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Stock markets mixed as investors break for more hope

05 August 2009 08:08 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower opening Tuesday as investors around the world paused after a the market’s huge rally and waited for more confirmation that the economic recovery is under way.
The slide in futures followed mostly lower trading on overseas markets and after a three-week-long rally that catapulted the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index past the 1,000 mark on Monday for the first time since November.
Investors appeared little fazed by the day’s earnings and economic news and instead focused on locking in some profits following a 14 percent climb in stocks since July 13.
The Commerce Department said consumers spending rose 0.4 percent in June, slightly more than anticipated and the second straight gain. But the department said personal incomes, which fuel future spending, dropped by a larger-than-expected 1.3 percent.
Among the day’s earnings news, homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc. said its fiscal third-quarter loss shrank from the year-ago period, beating Wall Street’s estimates. And a day after automakers reported improved U.S. auto sales for July, Toyota posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss and said it expects narrower losses for the full year.
Stock market investors have seen better-than-expected corporate earnings reports and encouraging outlooks this summer, as well as data showing improvements in the manufacturing and housing industries. Such promising signs have driven hopes that the nearly two-year-long recession is coming to an end, pushing stocks up to levels not seen since last fall.
Ahead of the market’s open, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 38, or 0.4 percent, to 9,210. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 5.40, or 0.5 percent, to 995.30, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 10.75, or 0.7 percent, to 1,616.
On Friday, investors will get the month’s most important piece of economic data â€” the Labor Department’s employment report. While the unemployment rate is expected to rise as high as 10 percent this year, a huge negative surprise in the report has the potential to rattle the market.
Bond prices rose in early trading Tuesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.59 percent from 3.64 percent late Monday.
The dollar rose against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Oil prices retreated, falling $1.18 to $70.40 a barrel in premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped 0.1 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 1.2 percent, Germany’s DAX index fell 0.8 percent, and France’s CAC-40 slipped 0.5 percent. Source: AP