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Markets & Stocks
Wall St. eyes tech earnings
February 16, 2000: 7:34 a.m. ET

AMAT, Lycos beat estimates for latest quarter, stocks jump
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Strong technology earnings are likely to be the focus as Wall Street opens for business Wednesday.
    Early indications suggest U.S. stocks will open higher.
    S&P futures on the Globex trading system were unchanged at 1410.00. That's almost 3 points above fair value for the futures -- a formula taking into account interest and dividends -- which was estimated by London traders at 1407.24. Typically, a point of difference between the futures index and fair value equals about eight points on the Dow Jones industrial average as trading opens.
    On Tuesday, U.S. stocks finished higher as a late rally overcame earlier declines in the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index. The Nasdaq rose 2.22 points to 4,420.77 after falling as much as 127 points earlier in the session. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 198.25 points, or 1.9 percent, to 10,718.09 on strength in stocks that benefit from economic growth. The S&P 500 index advanced 12.11 to 1,402.05.
    The strong earnings report from some high profile technology companies Tuesday are a further sign of the basic strength of the sector, said Patricia Chadwick, president of Ravengate Partners, in an interview CNNfn's Ahead of the Curve program Wednesday. (345KB WAV) (345 AIFF).
    

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    In Asia Wednesday, major stock markets rose, driven by strength in financial and industrial stocks.
    Tokyo's benchmark index of 225 stocks added 231 points, or 1.2 percent, to close at 19,599.18. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index continued Tuesday's rally to gain 355.23 points, or 2.1 percent, to 17,043.39. Singapore stocks also rose but indexes in smaller markets in Seoul, Manila, Sydney and Jakarta lost ground.
    In morning trading in Europe Wednesday, strength in financial issues helped support the markets.
    London's benchmark FTSE 100 rose 83.80 points, or 1.4 percent, to 6,089.00 while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax index gained 66.68 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7,462.81. Zurich's SMI advanced 116.80 points, or 1.7 percent, to 6,923.20. But the Paris CAC 40 slid 15.55, or 0.3 percent, to 6,077.08.
    In the Treasury market, the yield on the benchmark 30-year bond was little changed at 6.25 percent.  In currency markets, the dollar strengthened against the euro. The euro was worth 98.02 cents early Wednesday, compared with 98.11 cents in trading late Tuesday. But the dollar was basically unchanged compared with the Japanese currency at 109.09 yen.
    

    Click here for Tuesday's after-hours news.
    Click here for Tuesday's after-hours trading.
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    In company news, a semiconductor equipment maker and two major Internet companies beat earnings estimates for the latest quarter.
    Applied Materials Inc (AMAT: Research, Estimates) beat estimates for its fiscal first quarter, which ended Jan. 30. The leading maker of equipment used to produce computer chips posted earnings $328 million, or 80 cents a diluted share, compared with forecast of 77 cents on Wall Street. The company made $46 million, or 12 cents a share, a year earlier. The news drove its stock up 8 to 174-1/2 in heavy after-hours trading and it edged up further, to 175, before the markets opened Wednesday.
    Internet gateway Lycos Inc. (LCOS: Research, Estimates) also saw shares rise after it posted earnings of $3 million, or 3 cents a diluted share, in its second fiscal quarter ending Jan. 31, compared with the 1 cent forecast by analysts surveyed by First Call and a loss of $1.6 million, or 2 cent a share, a year earlier. The stock climbed 5-15/16 to 75 after-hours Tuesday and stood at 76-1/8 in before-hours trading Wednesday.
    Internet service provider Prodigy Communications Corp. (PRGY: Research, Estimates) reported a smaller-than-expected loss in the fourth quarter of 46 cents a share, compared with the 58-cent loss expected by analysts. That also helped its stock climb 3/8 to 26 in after-hours trading after gaining 3/4 in regular trading earlier in the day.
    Hewlett-Packard Co. (HWP: Research, Estimates) becomes the last component of the Dow to report earnings for the most recent period Wednesday evening. Analysts surveyed by First Call are looking for it to make 78 cents a share in its fiscal first quarter, ending last month, compared with 85 cents a year earlier.
    Shares of Hewlett-Packard stock closed Tuesday up 1-3/4 to 124-3/4.
    Stocks that could be under pressure Wednesday include Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED: Research, Estimates), the New York electric utility that had a release of radioactive gas Tuesday evening from its Indian Point nuclear power plant 35 miles north of New York. ConEd's shares fell 3/16 to 31-1/16 in trading Tuesday.
    Tobacco stocks could also face pressure after a report in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal that four major cigarette manufacturers face a new round of lawsuits, this time from tobacco growers. The four companies are Dow component Philip Morris Co. (MO: Research, Estimates), R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. (RJR: Research, Estimates), Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., a unit of British American Tobacco plc (BAT: Research, Estimates) and Lorillard Tobacco, a unit of Loews Corp. (LTR: Research, Estimates).
    Auto stocks could also see some pressure due to another Journal article that sports-utility vehicles sales have slowed, possibly due to rising gasoline prices.
    Economic reports due Wednesday include a report on January housing starts. A Briefing.com survey of economists finds they expect an annual rate of about 1.6 million housing starts, compared with a 1.7 million rate in December. The service also forecasts an annual rate of 1.6 million new building permits, little changed from December. Back to top

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.