U.S. AVERAGES
U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower market opening Wednesday as oil prices topped $66 a barrel ahead of weekly oil inventory report, fueling fears that higher energy costs could affect corporate profits and consumer spending.
Google (
GOOG: chart) announced that it expects to launch its instant-messaging service Wednesday to let users exchange text messages and make voice calls over their personal computers thus competing the messaging services provided by America Online, Yahoo! and Microsoft. Google Talk is about to enter a difficult battle on the instant-messaging services front as AOL's has already got about 41.6 million U.S. users, followed by Yahoo Messenger with 19.1 million users and MSN Messenger with 14.1 million users.
Ford Motor Co. (
F: chart) is to announce a new restructuring plan soon to return its key North American vehicle operations to profitability, according to the company.
China's No.1 Web search company
Baidu.com Inc. (
BIDU: chart), which became public in early August, could be among stocks in focus. Baidu’s stock lost 0.6% to $81.55 in after-hours trading Tuesday, after the company reported that its 2Q net income climbed vs. a year earlier.
Late Tuesday,
Applebee's International Inc. lowered its 3Q and 2005 earnings guidance and
SeaChange International Inc. slashed its revenue target for 2005.
Anglo-Australian mining company
BHP Billiton’s (
BHP: chart) net profit jumped by almost 90% in fiscal 2005 due to strong market conditions, especially in China.
Regis (
RGS: chart) posted a 10% increase in 4Q earnings and reiterated its full-year forecast.
On Wednesday
Dollar Tree is expected to post 2Q earnings of 25 cents a share. Also reporting Wednesday are
TiVo Inc.,
PetsMart,
Intuit Inc.,
Coldwater Creek,
Brown-Forman and
Michaels Stores.
ECONOMIC NEWS
A government report on
new home sales is due Wednesday, a day after an industry report on existing home sales declined more than the drop expected by analysts. Economists forecast that new home sales have dropped to an annual rate of 1.33 million vs. a record 1.37 million last year.
A reading on
durable goods orders is also scheduled for Wednesday, with economists expecting a decline of 1.5% after an increase of 2.8% a year ago.
INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS
Asian markets ended higher as oil prices retreated from recent high levels. Tokyo's Nikkei-225 Index was up by 0.22% to 10,985.33, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Stock Index gained 1.73% to 12,646.49. Korea's Kospi Index added 0.60% to 792.34, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index finished up 0.13% to 3539.70.
Tokyo closed higher Wednesday, reaching to a new four-year high for the third-straight session due to growing confidence in the country's economic recovery. The Nikkei 225 index added 0.24% percent, to 12,502.26 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The broader TOPIX gained 0.28% to 1,275.61.
European shares declined in early trading Wednesday dragged down by mining and metals stocks. The German DAX 30 lost 0.3% to 4,904, the French CAC 40 dropped 0.2% to 4,428 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index slid 0.2% to 5,292.
ENERGY, METALS AND CURRENCIES MARKETS
The price of
crude soared ahead of the key U.S. petroleum inventories report that is expected to show decline in crude and gasoline stocks on persistent worries over supply disruptions provoked by a tropical storm which could hit Gulf of Mexico output. On the New York Mercantile Exchange October crude advanced by 60 cents to $66.31 a barrel, while Nymex crude added 45 cents and was at $66.16 mid-afternoon in Singapore. On London's International Petroleum Exchange, October Brent crude futures quoted 42 cents up at $65.07 a barrel.
The dollar bought 110.54 yen on the Tokyo foreign exchange market at Wednesday, up 0.66 yen vs. late Tuesday and above the 109.88 yen it bought later that day in New York.
The euro fell to $1.2183 vs. $1.2234 late Tuesday.
Gold closed at $437.95 an ounce in Hong Kong, down $2.2 an ounce from Tuesday .
Bond prices remained little changed, leaving the yield on the 10-year treasury at 4.18% level late Tuesday.
