9:30AM London is sharply lower with miners down, while retailers are higher led by Marks & Spencer.

In London, leading stocks plunged with miners Xstrata and BHP Billiton lower as recent gains give way to profit taking. Carnival and British Airways are also lower as oil prices remain around $72 a barrel and the IEA predicted an energy crunch at the start of the next decade. On the plus side, retailer Marks & Spencer lifted the sector as investors expressed relief at better than anticipated first quarter figures following poor weather in June.

Advancers of the Day

Retailers were in focus after Marks & Spencer cheered investors with an upbeat trading statement. The retailer reported a 2% rise in first quarter. The company firmed 2.7%.

Next tracked the strong performance of Marks & Spencer, trading 1.9% higher, while Debenhams and Mothercare both gained 1.1%.

Consumer goods company Unilever was higher 3.8% on bid speculation.

Decliners of the Day

BHP Billiton lost 3.1% as reports circulate that the biggest miner is in talks with private equity firms to team up for a possible $40 billion bid for US aluminium company Alcoa. Antofagasta lost 1.6% and Anglo American shed 1.4%.

Carnival, the biggest cruise operator in the world, fell 2.9% on continued strength in crude oil prices. British Airways were also hit, down 1.9%.

Wolseley retreated 2% after US Home Depot reduced its 2007 earnings outlook.


9:00AM U.S. stock futures pointed lower, as reduced profit outlooks from Home Depot and Sears weighed.

U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower opening Tuesday, reflecting unimpressive start to Q2 earnings season and worries about corporate earnings, due to lowered profit outlooks from two retail companies. Renewed housing and inflation concerns ahead of a speech from Fed Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke also weighed. The market also awaited the Commerce Department report on wholesale inventories, expected to show a 0.4% increase.

Aluminum giant Alcoa (AA: chart) added 0.7% in the pre-open after posting in-line-with-estimate 4% profit decline. However, quarterly revenue missed the average analyst forecast Dow member Home Depot (HD: chart) warned that 2007 earnings will fall more than expected, blaming the slowing housing market. Shares of the home improvement retailer added 1% in pre-market trading.

At the same time, Sears Holdings (SHLD: chart) dropped 5.3% after it warned of lower-than-expected Q2 profit, due to weak sales. Among other companies posting quarterly results, Greenbrier (GBX: chart) surged 19% after reporting better-than-forecast earnings. Cheesecake Factory (CAKE: chart) gained on a 16% rise in Q2 revenue.

In other corporate news, General Motors (GM: chart) and Ford (F: chart) were upgraded to overweight at J.P. Morgan. S&P 500 futures dropped 4.7 points at 1,537.80 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 9.5 points at 1,999.00. Dow industrial futures fell 30 points. Yields on 10-year Treasury bonds fell to 5.12%.


8:30AM Asian markets end mixed with Japan declining on stronger yen, and China falling on profit-taking.

In Tokyo, the index edged lower as real estate stocks and export shares declined. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Average finished 0.05% lower at 18,253. The yen strengthened to 123.43 per dollar from 123.65 at yesterday''s close. The real estate sector lost on fears that the Bank of Japan may raise interest rates in near future. Two of the biggest real estate developers dropped. Mitsui Fudosan dipped 1.4% and Mitsubishi Estate lost 1.5%. Exporters also suffered as the yen strengthened against the dollar. Toyota lost 0.5 percent, while Canon Inc. fell 1 percent.

In Hong Kong, expectations of strong first-half earnings from Chinese banks led the rally. The Hang Seng Index gained 0.3% to close at 22,886. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China surged 5.1% as the largest bank by assets in the country announced that its first-half net profit is likely to advance more than 50% from a year earlier. China Merchants rallied 7.2% as it also expects first-half profit to double from the same period the previous year.