U.S. stock futures broke their holding pattern to edge slightly lower Thursday, trading in a tight range as investors look beyond Dow 10,000. Another wave of earnings is due out today. S&P 500 futures rose eight-tenths of a point to 1088.50 while Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.25 point to 1747.50. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 10 points.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday passed the 10,000 mark for the first time in over a year, helped by upbeat earnings from Intel Corp. (INTC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM). The Dow rose 144 points, the S&P 500 tacked on 18 points and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 32 points.
Top mobile phone maker Nokia lost 0.15 euros per share after a hefty charge at Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), against expectations for a small profit, while group net sales came in below consensus forecasts. Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK, $15.39, +$0.41, 2.74%) fell 9.68 percent to $13.90 on Thursday morning pre-market trading session, while on Wednesday, shares of Nokia rose 2.74 percent, and closed on $15.39.
Specialized chip maker Xilinx Inc (XLNX) reported higher-than-expected quarterly results and forecast revenue for the current quarter ahead of Wall Street targets, and its shares rose 1.3 percent. The company said on Wednesday that net income in its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 26 fell to $64.04 million or 23 cents per share, from $81.06 million, or 29 cents per share, a year earlier. Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX, $24.00, +$0.07, 0.29%) droped 3.33 percent to $23.20 on Thursday morning pre-market trading session, while on Wednesday, Xilinx shares climbed 0.29 percent, and closed on $24.00.
IBM Corp.’s ability to keep boosting profits despite the recession and slumping sales shows how important its high-margin services and software businesses have become. The Armonk, N.Y., company, which reports third-quarter earnings after the market closes Thursday. International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM, $128.35, +$1.33, 1.05%) fell 0.27 percent to $128.00 on Thursday morning pre-market trading session, while on Wednesday, shares of IBM rose 1.05 percent, and closed on $128.35.
After the closing bell, the focus will turn to software, with reports from Web giant Google. Google has even bigger hopes to live up to with Wall Street estimating its profit at $5.40 a share, well over last year’s $4.92, even as the advertising market shows only faint glimmers of a rebound. Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG, $535.32, +$9.21, 1.75%) droped 0.43 percent to $533.00 on Thursday morning pre-market trading session, while on Wednesday, Google shares climbed 1.75 percent, and closed on $535.32.
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