Wall Street awaits more earnings
Nasdaq futures fall on Texas Instruments' weak outlook; DuPont tops forecasts, lifting blue chips; AT&T, McDonald's and Yahoo on deck.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stock futures were mixed Tuesday as investors reacted to a bleak outlook from Texas Instruments and awaited earnings from a trio of Dow components.
About three hours before the market open, S&P futures pointed to a flat open for blue chips, while Nasdaq futures suggested a lower open for tech stocks.
Texas Instruments (TXN, Fortune 500) reported a jump in quarterly profit late Monday. But the chipmaker's outlook disappointed investors. Shares fell 2% in after-hours trading.
Early Tuesday chemical maker DuPont (DD, Fortune 500), a Dow component, posted a better-than-forecast earnings gain, and it reaffirmed its full-year profit guidance, although it gave a second-quarter EPS target below the current consensus forecast. DuPont shares rose 1.3% in trading in Frankfurt immediately after the report.
The cascade of earnings continues with two more Dow components, AT&T (T, Fortune 500) and McDonald's (MCD, Fortune 500), due to report earnings before the opening bell. Analysts are forecasting improved earnings at both companies.
After the bell, Internet bellwether Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) is due to report what could be crucial first-quarter results for its effort to stay independent.
The company has two days to go until Microsoft's (MSFT, Fortune 500) deadline to accept its hostile offer or face a proxy fight and a possibly lower bid for the company. Forecasts call for a narrow decline in earnings at Yahoo. If its earnings are flat or lower for the ninth straight quarter, it may not be able to hold off Microsoft's bid, while a surprise gain in earnings could bolster Yahoo's argument that the Microsoft bid does not reflect its true value.
Media conglomerate Tribune Company, which is struggling with its debt load since being taken private late last year, is closing in on an agreement to sell its Long Island newspaper Newsday to News Corp. (NWS, Fortune 500) for about $580 million, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, which itself was sold to News Corp. last year. The combination of of Newsday and News Corp.' s New York Post, another tabloid, is expected to turn a $50 million a year loss at the Post into a $50 million a year profit, according to the report.
Economic reports Tuesday include the latest reading on existing home sales. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast the pace of sales again fell to an annual pace of 4.92 million in March from 5.03 million pace in February, when sales were lifted by the largest price drop on record.
Oil prices hit a fresh all-time high. Light, sweet crude for May delivery reached as high as $118.05 a barrel in early electronic trading, before retreating to $117.60, which was still up 12 cents from Monday's close.
In global trade, Asian stocks fell. Major markets in Europe edged higher in midday trading. 
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