|
GE lifts U.S. futures in pre-open LEXR in focus; Lehman sees A&P disposals By Emily Church, MarketWatch Last Update: 8:37 AM ET March 24, 2005 LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Dow industrials futures rose Thursday after component General Electric raised its earnings outlook for the first quarter by close to 3 percent. Weaker-than-expected economic data also supported the futures, with the market shifting toward an inflation watch. New orders for durable goods increased a smaller-than-expected 0.3 percent in February following a revised 1.1 percent decline in January, the Commerce Department. GE (GE: news, chart, profile) cited the offering 80.5 million Genworth Financial (GNW: news, chart, profile) shares for the raised outlook, as well as "solid growth" in the conglomerate`s end markets. "Our businesses are performing very well," GE said. "To reflect their strong performance and the impact of the Genworth transactions, we are increasing our guidance for first-quarter earnings per share from 36 cents to 37 cents to 37 cents to 38 cents." GE affirmed its outlook for full year earnings growth. Earlier, the futures were holding higher, supported in part by expectations for some traditional end-of-the-month buying by institutions, dealers in London concluded. The Dow industrials futures were up 36 points at 10,503 after the GE update after the data. European stocks were also higher and Toyko`s Nikkei overnight eked out a small gain. See Europe Markets and Asia Markets In other data, U.S. weekly jobless claims rose 3,000 to 324,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of new claims rose by 3,500 to 321,750 for the week ending March 19, the highest since Jan. 29. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were expecting claims to fall to 316,000. Focus stocks Lexar Media (LEXR: news, chart, profile) surged as much as 75 percent to $5.56, building on surge from late Wednesday after a jury awarded the digital media company $380 million in damages after finding against Toshiba Corp. and a U.S. unit in a technology rights case. See story ATI Technologies Inc. (ATYT: news, chart, profile) said it plans to buy back up to 10 percent of its public float via Nasdaq and the Toronto Stock Exchange. For the third quarter, the company`s projecting revenue of $560 million to $600 million, as opposed to Wall Street`s average forecast of $616 million, with ATI expecting a "seasonal decline" in its PC business. Shares eased 3.3 percent on Instinet to $16.27. Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC: news, chart, profile) raised its 2005 earnings outlook from continuing operations to between $3.60 and $3.75 per share, including an after-tax gain of 12 cents from its recent sale of a stake of TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. Yahoo (YHOO: news, chart, profile) said Thursday that its board has approved the buyback of up to $3 billion worth of its common stock over the next five years. The Internet search giant plans to fund the program with working capital. The company currently has 1.4 billion common shares outstanding. Yum Brands (YUM: news, chart, profile) that it expects first-quarter earnings of 51 to 52 cents per share. The Louisville, Ky., operator of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants said strong sales in the quarter are likely to be offset by a higher than previously forecasted quarterly tax rate and higher commodity costs. GE is considering making an offer for Dutch commercial lender and investment bank NIB Capital Bank NV, which is valued over $3 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources. NIB recently hired Goldman Sachs (GS: news, chart, profile) to examine its options, the report said. See WSJ.com Shares of British oil major BP (BP: news, chart, profile) were down 0.7 percent after an explosion at its Texas City refinery - the third-biggest refinery in the U.S. As of late Wednesday night, 14 people had been reported killed in the explosion and fire. See story Shares of U.K. insurer Prudential Plc. (PUK: news, chart, profile) rallied 5 percent on Thursday after it said Mark Tucker, the finance director at lender HBOS (UK:HBOS: news, chart, profile) has been tapped to replace Jonathan Bloomer, who has been the insurer`s Chief Executive since March 2000, on May 5. Bloomer had been under pressure after Prudential`s 1 billion pound rights issue last year to raise cash to fund growth in the U.K. See London Markets Overnight, Shares of Pixar (PIXR: news, chart, profile) rose nearly 2 percent to $93.60 after it said its board has authorized the split, which will result in 200 million common shares. Also, Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT: news, chart, profile) were flat in late trading after the company said its board had approved a stock repurchase program of up to $4 billion over the next three years. Broker calls Lehman Brothers raised its rating on the The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. (GAP: news, chart, profile) to "overweight", telling clients it expects the retailer will take steps to enhance shareholder value in the next 12-18 months. Lehman said steps could include "selling the Canadian business, eliminating or monetizing non-core and money-losing divisions, and buying assets in core markets." Analysts raised their price target on the stock to $18. "We have no knowledge that A&P will take these steps, nor can timing be predicted accurately," Lehman said. Credit Suisse First Boston said it sees WTI crude-oil futures above $40 per barrel through 2009. In an overnight note to clients, it said it was hiking its oil price forecast by nearly $8 per barrel. "We argued in January that the commodity cycle was not over and we forecast above consensus oil prices at that time. Since then the macro indicators have strengthened, with more robust demand, particularly from China, and a slower build-up of production capacity. |
|
| aus der Diskussion: | Wochenthread Charttechnik KW 12 / 2005 |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | kajahh (24.03.05 15:15:45) |
| Beitrag: | 96 von 113 (ID:16221514) |
| Alle Angaben ohne Gewähr © wallstreetONLINE | |