NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Wall Street is poised for more active trading on Friday, when investors will get more clues about the state of the economy.
Shortly after the opening on Friday, the University of Michigan will release its revised read on consumer sentiment. The August index is expected to be unchanged from an initial read of 94.
Investors were also awaiting revised figures for second-quarter gross domestic product, scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. GDP is expected to have grown at a 2.7 percent rate versus an initial read of 3 percent, according to Briefing.com
In addition, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan will speak to a group of central bankers and could give clues about Fed policy on the economy and interest rates.
Following Thursday's close, shares of Novellus Systems, a maker of tools used to make microchips, rose after the company said orders for new equipment would come in at the low end of company estimates as the chip industry becomes more cautious about capital expenditures.
Shares of Novellus (NVLS: Research, Estimates), which declined 2 percent to $24.65 in trading before the announcement, recovered to $24.99 in after-hours trading on the INET electronic brokerage system, from their $24.65 close. Some on Wall Street had anticipated a weaker outlook.
Tech Data (TECD: Research, Estimates) stock rose after the No. 2 computer-products distributor reported second-quarter earnings per share of 52 cents against Reuters Estimates of 49 cents.
Shares of Tech Data rose to $39.06 in after-hours trading, from their $37.45 Nasdaq close.
Meanwhile, shares in women's clothing retailer Chico's FAS (CHS: Research, Estimates) fell, despite the group announcing that its quarterly profit rose 45 percent, driven by sales growth and strength in its White House Black Market brand.
Shares of Chico's fell to $42.53 on the INET, from their $43.88 New York Stock Exchange close.
Elsewhere, TiVo shares fell in after-hours trading after the digital video recorder maker reported a wider quarterly net loss as it increased spending to accelerate subscriber growth.
But the company said it added 288,000 net new subscriptions in the period, bringing total subscribers to about 1.9 million, nearly double its level of one year ago.
TiVo (TIVO: Research, Estimates) stock fell about 6 percent in after-hours trading.
Shares of Sports Authority (TSA: Research, Estimates) also fell after the retailer said second-quarter earnings-per-share fell due to costs related to its merger with Gart Sports and unusually cool and wet weather that hurt sales.
Looking ahead, the largest U.S. sporting goods chain said it expects same-store sales, a key retail figure called same-store sales, to decrease in the low single digits.
AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, said it expects soaring jet-fuel prices to push its expenses up more than $1 billion in 2004 from last year's level.
A spokesman for the airline said the figure was up from American's most recent guidance that it would spend an additional $700 million.
Fuel prices have climbed this year, with only a bit of pullback this week from last week's record high. Light crude for October contract closed at $43.10 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday, after reaching record highs in the previous week.
-- from staff and wire reports
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