By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- After a long weekend break, U.S.
stock-market futures traded cautiously ahead of Wall Street's open,
as investors pored over earnings from DuPont and awaited others.
Existing-home sales data, and a regional manufacturing index were
also on tap.
Markets were closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr.
Day.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJH3) fell 17
points to 13,559. Futures for the Standard & Poor's 500 index
(SPH3) fell 1 point to 1,477.90.
Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index (NDH3) edged up 2.25 points to
2,736.
Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT Markets, said futures
markets moved lower earlier after the Bank of Japan announced it
will adopt a 2% inflation target and commence an open-ended
asset-purchasing program beginning January 2014.
"Everyone was expecting this, so it was a case of buying the
rumor and selling the fact," said Razaqzada. He added that markets
also got jittery on speculation that a member of the European
Central Bank could be stepping down.
But futures losses eased after the German ZEW
economic-expectations index, a gauge of investor sentiment, rose
more sharply than expected in January.
But away from global factors, U.S. markets will be focusing
squarely on data and earnings to come.
Getting back into the swing of things after Monday's break,
investors will be looking out for a read on the housing market,
with existing-home sales due at 10 a.m. Eastern time. Economists
polled by MarketWatch are expecting sales of 5.10 million for
December versus 5.04 million in the prior month.
Ahead of that at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, the Chicago national
activity index will be released.
Earnings season also gets back on track. DuPont (DD) reported
fourth-quarter adjusted earnings on operations of 11 cents versus
26 cents in the year-ago period. Analysts polled by FactSet
Research were expecting DuPont to post fourth-quarter earnings of 7
cents a share. The group posted revenue of $7.57 billion against
forecasts for sales of $7.15 billion. Shares of DuPont rose over 1%
in premarket.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is forecast to turn in earnings of
$1.17 a share for the fourth quarter.
After the closing bell, Google Inc. (GOOG) and International
Business Machines Corp. (IBM) will deliver results.
"Delta Airlines, IBM and Google are just some of the highlights
today, and with many analysts cautious on the outlook for the tech
sector, there's every chance that even some modest showings here
could initiate further buying," said Razaqzada.
Within other corporate news, shares of Research in Motion Ltd.
(RIMM) rose 8% in premarket trading. Shares surged the prior day in
Canada to a 13-month high after the group's chief executive told a
German newspaper the company may sell its handset business or
license to rivals.
U.S. stock markets closed out with a third straight week of
gains on Friday. Strong earnings news and upbeat news on the debt
ceiling also helped sentiment. The S&P 500 index (SPX) rose
5.04 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 1,485.98, its highest close
since December 2007. The index rose 1% for the week.
The dollar initially gained around a yen on the Bank of Japan
news before pulling back and was weaker across the board. The
dollar index (DXY) , which measures the greenback against a basket
of several currencies, fell to 79.801 from 80.046 late on
Monday.
Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, who is also a member at the
European Central Bank Governing Council warned in a speech late
Monday of a potential "currency war" as central banks pump out cash
to support economies, media reports said.
In other markets, gold prices edged higher, while crude-oil for
February delivery traded lower.
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