U.S. MARKET AVERAGES
Shares of
Citigroup Inc. (
C: chart) lost 1.8% to $45.60 after the financial services group's 2Q results missed analysts’ estimates on a decline in its fixed-income revenue.
Bank of America posted a 12% rise in its quarterly profit, beating analysts’ expectations, on strength in credit card business and investment gains. Bank of America’s shares were down 1.3% at $45.38 as
MBNA posted better-than-expected results, but cautioned that it sees lower net margins in the second-half of the year. MBNA’s stock closed up 0.2% at $26.22 on Friday.
The second Dow component to report Monday
3M Co (
MMM: chart), could get a boost after raising the lower-end of its 2005 earnings outlook. The maker of the Post-It note reported in-line adjusted 2Q results on a 5.6% growth in revenue. 3M's shares lost 0.5% in early trading.
After the closing bell International Business Machines (
IBM: chart) is scheduled to report its quarterly results.
ECONOMIC NEWS
No major U.S. economic data are due out today.
Housing Starts data, which is a key measure of initial construction of residential units both single and multi-family, for the month of June is due to be released Tuesday. Economists expect Housing Starts for the month of June to be 2.03 million. Housing Starts data for May came in at annual unit rate of 2.009 million, 0.2% higher than the 2.005 million units April, while economists had forecasted an annual unit pace of 2.040 million. Housing Starts for multi-unit homes declined 19.3%, while that of single-family homes advanced 4.7%.
On Wednesday, the Energy Information Department is expected to release the weekly Petroleum inventory data for the week ended July 15th.
Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan is to deliver the semi-annual Monetary Policy report to House Financial Services Committee in Washington on Thursday.
The customary weekly Jobless Claims data for the week ended July 16th is scheduled to be released on Thursday. Economists expect the claims for unemployment benefits for the first time to decline 9,000 to 327,000 for the week.
Thursday, the Philadelphia Fed index, a read on manufacturing in the northeast region, is expected to have risen to 9.0 from a read of -2.2 in May. Any read over zero signifies expansion in the sector.
INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS
Asian-Pacific markets ended mixed with Tokyo closed for a national holiday and Taiwan’s stock exchange closed because of a typhoon. South Korea’s Kospi, one of the gainers, finished higher 0.3% boosted by gains in the U.S. markets Friday and buying from retail investors. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.4%, reaching a 52-month high, helped by the strong property sector. China’s Shanghai Composite declined 1.4% as its biggest offshore oil company Cnooc expanded its losses.
European shares slightly advanced as a cautious outlook by Philips Electronics was offset by positive close of U.S. markets Friday and gains in the telecommunications sector. The German DAX 30 rose 0.3%, the French CAC 40 gained 0.2%, and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 added 0.3%. The euro rose against the dollar to $1.2051, while the pound fell to $1.7461.
ENERGY, METALS AND CURRENCIES MARKETS
Oil prices eased as OPEC released a forecast of lower global demand which balanced fears of Hurricane Emily causing damage to the oil infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. Light sweet crude for August delivery fell 32 cents to $57.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the NYME. London Brent dropped 39 cents to $75.22.
The euro gained against the dollar as the European Union released a report showing accelerated last-month inflation for the European region. The euro rose to $1.2060 in NY and may rise as high as $1.2255 this month, according to analysts. The greenback bought 112.09 yen.
EARNINGS NEWS
The most recent quarter ended June is traditionally pointing to the smallest year-over-year growth, but many of the early earnings reports have been positive and there haven't been many earnings warnings lately. Analysts forecast that earnings in the second-quarter advanced 8.1% compared with last year.
