11:30AM Apple and economic slowdown worries weighed.
U.S. stocks traded in the negative, with investors shifting their focus away from a terror scare to economic slowdown. Strong July retail sales prompted the slowing will be not extreme, while an unexpectedly strong increase in business inventories suggested just the opposite. All sectors posted weakness except for consumer discretionary stocks, which were flat, reflecting the better-than-expected retail sales numbers. Apple Computer (AAPL: chart) also weighed on sentiment on news it would delay its Q3 report because of irregularities related to past stock-option grants. In merger deals, Canadian Resort operator Intrawest Corp. agreed to be acquired by Fortress Investment Group LLC in a deal worth about $2.8 billion, or $35 a share including debt assumption. The offer represents a 32% premium to the stock's closing price of $26.51 on Thursday. Company’s shares soared 29%. In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 28.02, or 0.05%. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.73, or 0.29%, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 8.13, or 0.39%. Bonds fell, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note at 4.96%, up from 4.93% Thursday.


10:30AM The Indian Sensex ends in the green in a volatile trading.
The Sensex in India moved up 43.29 points, 0.39%, to close at 11,192.46. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,382 crore, higher than Thursday’s Rs 3,138 crore. The Sensex moved in a range of about 385 points between some vital intra-day tops and bottoms of the day. The market-breadth wa strong as 1,694 shares gained, 764 declined and just 68 shares were unchanged. Among the Sensex constituents, there were 17 advances to 13 declines.

Reliance Industries gained 3% to Rs 1,009.80. Reliance’s bid for the retail cooperative, Super Bazar, which has several shops in and around Delhi, was well above Rs 70 crore offered by Indian Labour Cooperative Society along with Indian Potash. IT large-cap Infosys gained 2% to Rs 1,742.90.

The top market gainer has been Hero Honda, though, gaining 3.58% to Rs 698.00. Other advancers included NTPC, which rose 2.72% to Rs 124.70. Cement shares were in focus on hopes of strong product prices in the medium term. Grasim rose 2.2% to Rs 2,197.70, UltraTech Cement gained 1.8% to Rs 751, and ACC rose 0.6% to Rs 880.90. Steel large-cap Tata Steel also rose 2.2% to Rs 527.80 and Steel Authority of India advanced 1.9% to Rs 77.80.

Some auto shares gained after a fall in oil price. TVS Motor added 3.3% to Rs 93, Eicher Motor rose 1.7% to Rs 224.50, Bajaj Auto notched up 1% to Rs 2,657.80, and Tata Motors advanced 0.6% to Rs 794. Great Eastern Shipping surged 6.5% to Rs 255.35. The company stated on Thursday that its board decided to petition the Bombay High Court, seeking an extension of deadline, which lapsed on 2 August, to demerge its offshore business.

Banking shares dipped on profit-taking occured. ICICI Bank moved back nearly 3% to Rs 582.50 and State Bank of India lost 0.6% to Rs 855.50. Power equipment makers edged higher. Siemens soared nearly 8% to Rs 1,009, Kalpataru Power jumped 7% to Rs 792, KEC International gained 4.8% to Rs 266.50, ABB rose 3% to Rs 2,774.85, Suzlon Energy advanced 1.8% to Rs 1,227 and Crompton Greaves added 1.1% to Rs 221.

Among other stocks, Thomas Cook India jumped 10% to Rs 577 after the travel services firm unveiled an 11-for-20 share-swap ratio for merging operations of moneychanger, LKP Forex, on Thursday and also announced a plan to buy Thomas Cook Thailand for 2.5 million euros. Gitanjali Gems surged 5% to Rs 148.70 as a few block deals were executed in the stock on BSE at Rs 145.20-Rs 147.75 per share. Volumes were a huge 43.4 lakh shares on BSE.


9:45AM Stocks opened in the negative.
Stocks moved to the downside, hurt by news that Apple Computer would delay its latest quarterly report because of irregularities related to past stock-option grants. Apple''s (AAPL: chart) shares fell 1%. A growing scandal around the backdating of options has already resulted in 5 indictments and a series of restatement announcements at other firms. On Wednesday insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH: chart) said it would delay filing its quarterly report while it evaluates its stock options granted since 1994.

Disappointing news from semiconductors added to worries in the technology sector. Semiconductor maker Analog Devices Inc. (ADI: chart) posted weaker-than-expected sales growth, sending its shares down almost 12%. Shares of graphics chip maker Nvidia Corp. (NVDA: chart) fell 4.2% after the company said dates of some stock option grants were incorrect. The airline sector was among the worst performers in the early going, reversing gains made in late Thursday session. The gold sector was among the notable gainers, rising 1.2%. Retail stocks showed modest gains as well, following a strong quarterly report from department store operator Kohl’s (KSS: chart) and better-than-anticipated July retail sales data. In opening trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 24.34, or 0.22%. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index fell 2.80, or 0.22%, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 7.40, or 0.36%.

Adventrx Pharmaceuticals Inc, (ANX: chart), biotech company, reported it swung to Q2 profit of 3 cents a share, up from a loss of $3.3 million, or 6 cents a share in the same period a year ago. Q2 included a gain on the fair market value of warrants of $18 million.

Metretek Technologies, (MEK: chart), energy measurement product maker, reported Q2 net income rose to 25 cents a share, from 7 cents a share. Revenue improved to $36.2 million from $14 million on sales of distributed generation turnkey systems at its PowerSecure unit. The company cut the top end of its 2006 earnings guidance, now seeing net income between 76 cents to 80 cents a share.

Xanser Corp, (XNR: chart), technology specialist, reported Q2 net income rose to 2 cents a share, compared to a year-ago loss of 5 cents a share. Revenue grew to $64.5 million from $43.5 million on the performance of its Furmanite information technology services unit.

National R.V. Holdings Inc., (NVH: chart), recreational vehicle maker, reported its Q2 loss widened to 69 cents a share, from 53 cents a share in the year-earlier period. More than $5 million of the loss was attributable to defective fiberglass material used by the company and $1.1 million was attributable to a reserve established for a recall of defective tires. Sales in Q2 fell 11% to $110.2 million from $123.2 million.


9:00AM Stock futures pointed to a flat opening.
U.S. stock futures indicated a flat to slightly higher opening of Friday session as disappointing news from semiconductor companies offset strong results from Kohl''s Corp. Investor optimism on consumer spending was boosted by stronger-than-expected July retail sales which rose 1.4% on higher auto and gasoline sales, beating estimates of 0.8% increase.

Analog Devices Inc. (ADI: chart) dropped 10% after the bell Thursday as the chip maker posted weaker-than-expected sales growth. Shares of graphics chip maker Nvidia Corp. (NVDA: chart) fell 8% after the company said dates of some stock option grants were incorrect, according to preliminary results of a review.

Shares of Kohl''s (KSS: chart) rose 4% after the bell Thursday after the department store operator posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its earnings outlook. Kohl''s posted Q2 earnings jump of 27.8% to 69 cents per share, up from 54 cents last year on higher revenues, beating estimates. Comparable store sales for the quarter grew 5.5%. Standard & Poor''s 500 futures were up 0.3 point, barely above fair value.Dow Jones industrial average futures were up 2 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 3 points.

Retail sales jumped 1.4% in July, well above expectations.
Retail sales rose much more than expected in the month of July, according to a report released by the Department of Commerce on Friday. The sales growth was partly due to strong auto and gas station sales. The report showed that retail sales rose 1.4 percent in July following a revised 0.4 percent decrease in June. Economists had expected sales to increase by 0.8 percent compared to the 0.1 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month. A significant increase in auto sales contributed to sales growth, with sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers rising 3.1 percent in July after falling 2.5 percent in June. Auto sales were still down 9.4 percent year-over-year. Excluding auto sales, retail sales still rose by 1.0 percent in July after a revised 0.1 percent increase in June. Ex-auto sales had been expected to increase by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.3 percent increase originally reported for June. The increase in ex-auto sales was partly due to strong growth in sales at gas stations, which rose 2.5 percent in July following a 0.8 percent increase in June. The sales growth at gas stations was partly due to higher gas prices. Strong growth was also shown by electronics and appliance stores, building material and garden supplies dealers, and non-store retailers.