Bears emerge after Intel, other earnings; proposed $58B bank merger could be factor.
A slew of information, including some high-profile tech earnings, J.P. Morgan Chase's proposed $58 billion acquisition of Bank One, early results from IBM and several economic figures, will factor into trading Thursday.
At 7:50 a.m. ET, S&P and Nasdaq futures pointed to lower open.
Intel may drag on tech stocks Thursday. The world's No. 1 chipmaker posted fourth-quarterearnings and sales that were higher than expected, but included a larger-than-forecast goodwill writeoff and a larger-than-forecast tax gain from divestitures. Investors had also run up the stock before the report, so there could be some softness on the news coming out.
Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates) shares fell 2.7 percent in before-hours trading Thursday.
However, IBM may offset the disappointment in Intel, as Big Blue released its fourth-quarter results a week ahead of its previous schedule and topped Wall Street's estimates.
Earnings excluding special items for the blue chip computer maker increased to $2.7 billion, or $1.56 a share, up from $1.34 a share in the year-earlier period. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call forecast earnings of $1.50 a share, with a range of estimates from $1.46 to $1.54.
Revenue rose to $25.9 billion from $23.7 billion a year earlier. That beat First Call's revenue forecast of $25.0 billion.IBM (IBM: Research, Estimates) shares gained 5 percent before hours.
Other results posted after the close Wednesday included Internet portal Yahoo!, which met estimates, and Apple Computer, which posted results at the high end of expectations.
Yahoo! (YHOO: Research, Estimates) shares dropped 3.4 percent and Apple (AAPL: Research, Estimates) shares shed 5.3 percent in before-hours trading Thursday.
Also drawing investors' attention Thursday will be the stunning proposed purchase of Bank One by J.P. Morgan Chase. The stock-swap deal, if completed, would create the nation's second-largest banking company, behind Citigroup, with assets of more than $1.1 trillion.
There are lots of economic numbers on the agenda before the markets open Thursday. The consumer price index for December is due, with economists surveyed by Briefing.com predicting a 0.2 percent rise overall and a 0.1 percent rise excluding food and energy prices.
December retail sales are expected to show a 0.8 percent increase, and a 0.4 percent gain excluding autos.
The weekly jobless claims number is forecast to decline to 350,000 in the week ended Jan. 10 from 353,000 the prior week.
Other reports due Thursday include regional manufacturing reports from the New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserve Banks, as well as the Treasury budget for December.
The Dow Jones industrial average comes off a 1.1 percent gain Wednesday after a surprise narrowing of the nation's trade gap. The Nasdaq composite index managed a 0.7 percent advance. (see chart for details)
Asian-Pacific stocks ended lower Thursday in response to the negative reaction to the tech results; Tokyo's Nikkei fell 1.8 percent. European markets were mixed. (Check the latest on world markets)
Treasury prices were little changed, with the 10-year note yield at 3.99 percent. The dollar slipped against the yen, and was flat versus the euro.
Brent oil futures rallied 43 cents to $31 a barrel in London as a winter storm socked the Northeast. Gold pulled back.
A slew of information, including some high-profile tech earnings, J.P. Morgan Chase's proposed $58 billion acquisition of Bank One, early results from IBM and several economic figures, will factor into trading Thursday.
At 7:50 a.m. ET, S&P and Nasdaq futures pointed to lower open.
Intel may drag on tech stocks Thursday. The world's No. 1 chipmaker posted fourth-quarterearnings and sales that were higher than expected, but included a larger-than-forecast goodwill writeoff and a larger-than-forecast tax gain from divestitures. Investors had also run up the stock before the report, so there could be some softness on the news coming out.
Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates) shares fell 2.7 percent in before-hours trading Thursday.
However, IBM may offset the disappointment in Intel, as Big Blue released its fourth-quarter results a week ahead of its previous schedule and topped Wall Street's estimates.
Earnings excluding special items for the blue chip computer maker increased to $2.7 billion, or $1.56 a share, up from $1.34 a share in the year-earlier period. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call forecast earnings of $1.50 a share, with a range of estimates from $1.46 to $1.54.
Revenue rose to $25.9 billion from $23.7 billion a year earlier. That beat First Call's revenue forecast of $25.0 billion.IBM (IBM: Research, Estimates) shares gained 5 percent before hours.
Other results posted after the close Wednesday included Internet portal Yahoo!, which met estimates, and Apple Computer, which posted results at the high end of expectations.
Yahoo! (YHOO: Research, Estimates) shares dropped 3.4 percent and Apple (AAPL: Research, Estimates) shares shed 5.3 percent in before-hours trading Thursday.
Also drawing investors' attention Thursday will be the stunning proposed purchase of Bank One by J.P. Morgan Chase. The stock-swap deal, if completed, would create the nation's second-largest banking company, behind Citigroup, with assets of more than $1.1 trillion.
There are lots of economic numbers on the agenda before the markets open Thursday. The consumer price index for December is due, with economists surveyed by Briefing.com predicting a 0.2 percent rise overall and a 0.1 percent rise excluding food and energy prices.
December retail sales are expected to show a 0.8 percent increase, and a 0.4 percent gain excluding autos.
The weekly jobless claims number is forecast to decline to 350,000 in the week ended Jan. 10 from 353,000 the prior week.
Other reports due Thursday include regional manufacturing reports from the New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserve Banks, as well as the Treasury budget for December.
The Dow Jones industrial average comes off a 1.1 percent gain Wednesday after a surprise narrowing of the nation's trade gap. The Nasdaq composite index managed a 0.7 percent advance. (see chart for details)
Asian-Pacific stocks ended lower Thursday in response to the negative reaction to the tech results; Tokyo's Nikkei fell 1.8 percent. European markets were mixed. (Check the latest on world markets)
Treasury prices were little changed, with the 10-year note yield at 3.99 percent. The dollar slipped against the yen, and was flat versus the euro.
Brent oil futures rallied 43 cents to $31 a barrel in London as a winter storm socked the Northeast. Gold pulled back.
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