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Wall St. may feel Asian ills
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July 10, 1998: 8:25 a.m. ET
Stocks seen heading lower at open as concerns about Japan tax cuts linger
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Another rocky ride in Asia's markets could spill over to the U.S. and lead to a lower Wall Street open Friday, a day after stocks fell due to a handful of earnings warnings.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 85.19 points Thursday at 9,089.78, led lower by a profit warning by chemicals power DuPont.
DuPont shares (DD) fell 7 to 70-1/8, accounting for about one-third of the Dow's loss.
More political uncertainty in Japan ahead of Sunday's parliamentary elections drove the Nikkei index down more than 2 percent Friday, while the other major Asian markets headed lower as well.
And the Japanese yen continued to drift, as concern mounts that a tax cut could be in jeopardy if Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's Liberal Democratic Party fails to perform well in the elections.
The yen was stabilizing early Friday, up 0.12 at 140.95 to the dollar.
The bond market, which has typically moved higher as the yen drifted, was flat ahead of Friday's report on producer prices. The 30-year Treasury was unchanged in price at a yield of 5.60 percent.
European markets also were lower amid the drop in Asian and U.S. markets Thursday and Friday.
The German mark rose against the dollar after a report quoted a top Russian debt negotiator saying a deal for International Monetary Fund credits could be completed this weekend.
The mark rose 0.87 pfennig to 1.8195 marks to the dollar.
U.S. markets looked headed moderately lower Friday based on S&P Futures trading on the Globex system.
(Click here for the latest S&P Futures quote)
The earliest signs of the second-quarter earnings season have begun to emerge on Wall Street, which could impact share prices Friday.
Pfizer could get pumped up Friday after the drug maker reported after the bell Thursday a 38 percent jump in second-quarter earnings, due in part to strong sales of its impotence drug Viagra.
Pfizer shares (PFE) gained 2-1/2 Thursday at 116.
Dallas Semiconductor beat analyst expectations, as compiled by First Call, as it reported profits of 47 cents per share in the second quarter.
Shares of Dallas Semiconductor (DS) lost 11/16 to 30-5/8 Thursday.
The small biotechnology company Biogen reported second-quarter profits of 41 cents a share Thursday, up from 26 cents a share in the same quarter a year ago.
Biogen also said its Avonex product has become the world's leading treatment for multiple sclerosis. Its shares (BGEN) lost 1-3/16 to 51-91/16 Thursday.
Dollar General will join the Standard & Poor's 500 Index next week, which could lift its shares as institutional investors could plan to put money into the stock as a result.
The retailer's shares (DG) were unchanged Thursday at 42-1/8.
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