Dow Jones, Nasdaq Composite set to open lower Print
Written by Will Peters   
Friday, 20 November 2009 10:54
It is still early, but futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all point to a lower open.


Yesterday saw Wall Street closed sharply lower, though it did come off the lows seen at the start of the day, as investors again questioned the speed of the recent rally.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) finished 93 points lower at 10,332. Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) was down 36 at 2,156 while the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) finished 14 lower at 1,094.

Wall Street Futures

And Wall Street futures remain stubbornly down at 10:50am GMT.

Dow Jones Industrial futures are 0.20% lower, the S&P 500 futures are down by a similar amount however Nasdaq Composite futures are looking better however coming in 0.08% lower.

Who were the market movers?

Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK) and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) were among the few risers on the Dow. US mortgage delinquency rates and foreclosures rose sharply in the third quarter. There were 1.42% of loans hit by foreclosures, which is an all-time high.

Weekly dole claimants came in almost bang in line with forecasts at 505,000 for the week ended 4 November.

The index of US leading indicators rose for a seventh consecutive month in October. The Conference Board’s gauge of the outlook for the next three to six months rose 0.3%, less than forecast, after rising 1% in September.

Chip makers were heavily sold after a pessimistic report on the semiconductor industry by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. AMD, Micron, National Semiconductor and Intel are all lower. The broker downgraded 10 semiconductor companies.

AOL plans to cut one-third of its workforce, 2,300 staff, after its spin-off from Time Warner is completed. Tim Armstrong, AOL's chief executive, also told his staff Thursday that he will not take a bonus for 2009.

Birds Eye Foods, the largest frozen-vegetable company in the US, is being acquired for more than $1.3bn by Pinnacle Brands. Birds Eye has revenues of more than $930m. This could mark an upturn in buy outs.

JPMorgan Chase buying out the outstanding of the half of UK broker Cazenove for about $1.67bn.

Wells Fargo has agreed to reimburse investors who bought $1.4bn in auction-rate securities that were frozen in the credit crunch early last year, including $700m held by California residents.
Last Updated ( Friday, 20 November 2009 10:59 )
 
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