Retail Sales in Focus

albena
30 Nov, -0001
New York City

Futures were trading higher early Thursday, pointing to a higher opening for stocks. Crude oil prices eased back but still hovered around record levels. Investors will focus on oil prices, corporate news and the latest economic readings to see if stocks can rebound from the recent broad decline. The government report at 8.30 is expected to show that retail sales quickened in July which will be a sign that economy continues to expand.

U.S. AVERAGES

U.S. stocks are poised to trade higher at the open Thursday as market awaits data on July retail sales, weekly jobless claims and June business inventories.

Treasury prices were unchanged, with the 10-year yield holding at 4.39%. The dollar lost ground against on the euro and the yen.

U.S. crude oil hit a record high at $65.30 a barrel on Thursday, as tightening U.S. gasoline supplies added to concerns about refinery difficulties.

Oil companies Exxon Mobil and Chevron Corp. are expected to put on further gains, helped by the rise in oil.

Whirlpool Corp. made an aggressive move to secure the deal to acquire rival Maytag Corp. by boosting its offer for a third time to $1.79 billion, or $21 a share. Including the assumption of $977 million of Maytag debt, the entire deal was valued at $2.7 billion.

Yahoo! ((YHOO)) said Thursday morning that it has agreed to take a 40% economic interest in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba.com. Yahoo! said it would pay $1 billion in cash and add its China business to that of Alibaba, with the 2 firms working together to increase the Yahoo! brand in China. Yahoo! revealed that the deal gives it 35% of Alibaba's voting rights.

Target ((TGT)) is slated to release its quarterly results before the start of trading Thursday. Analysts expect the company to have earned 59 cents per share in the quarter vs. 39 per share last year.

Hospira ((HSP)) is also due to report before the opening bell, while Dell ((DELL)) is expected to post its earnings after the market close.

ECONOMIC NEWS

The Commerce Department is expected to release the retail sales report for July at 8:30 a.m. Economists expect a 2.2% jump in total retail sales, but for non-auto sales to only grow by 0.6%.

The Labor Department is scheduled to release jobless claims data for the week ended Aug. 6 at 8:30 a.m. Economists expect jobless claims to have climbed by 3,000 to a level of 315,000 in the week.

The Commerce Department is due to release the June report on total business inventories at 10 a.m. Economists expect another minimal 0.1% increase.

INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS

Asian-Pacific markets closed broadly in the positive territory with the Nikkei hitting a top trading level in four years of 1.37% on optimism for the Japanese economy and reduced political concerns. The banking stocks led the rally, followed by brokerages, real estates and oil issues as ongoing concerns over conflicts in the Middle East lifted oil to a new intraday record of $65 a barrel. In the regional markets, Shanghai Composite climbed 1.6% and South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.7%. The dollar traded at 110.34 yen in early Tokyo trading.

European stocks traded lower at mid-day, erasing recent gains on record-high crude-oil prices of over $65 a barrel, corporate news and German economic data, showing no improvement of GDP figures from the prior quarter. The German DAX 30 declined 0.4%, the French CAC fell 0.3%, while London’s FTSE decreased 0.1% only as oil majors benefited from rising prices. The euro and the pound added 0.2% to trade at $1.2410 and $1.8002 respectively.

ENERGY, METALS AND CURRENCIES MARKETS

Oil prices fell below $65 a barrel after hitting a new intraday high of $65.30 on gasoline supply fears. Light, sweet crude was down 13 cents to $64.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the NYME, and Brent crude for September delivery eased 1 cent to $63.98 on London's International Petroleum Exchange.

Gold futures advanced as the U.S. dollar lost ground against other major currencies. Gold in London traded at $437.80 per troy ounce, up from $436.10.Gold was up $2.70 in Hong Kong to close at $438.35. Silver opened in London at $6.98, down vs. $7.04 Wednesday.

The U.S. dollar slipped against its major counterparts on European morning trading. The euro was quoted at $1.2415, up from $1.2355. The British pound gained against the greenback and traded at $1.8031, up from $1.7930. The Japanese yen stood at 110.27, down from 110.56.

EARNINGS NEWS

Creative Technology Ltd. ((CREAF)), Singapore-based digital entertainment company, reported a 4Q net loss of 38 cents a share vs. net earnings of 8 cents a share a year earlier, blaming the quarterly loss on the lower-than-expected selling prices for MP3 players and inventory write-downs. Net sales rose to $305.4 million vs. $201.8 million last year.

Standard Parking Corp. ((STAN)), Chicago-based parking management service company , reported 2Q net earnings of 40 cents a share vs. a net loss of 24 cents a share a year ago. Revenue rose to $147.4 million vs. $140.9 million last year. The company sees 2005 earnings in the range of $1.40 - $1.50 a share.

Zoltek Companies Inc. ((ZOLT)), carbon fiber developer, reported a 3Q net loss of 8 cents a share vs. net earnings of 4 cents a share a year ago. Revenue rose to $19.7 million vs. $13.3 million a year earlier.

Interchange Inc. ((INCX)) , paid-search advertising services provider, reported a 2Q net loss of 10 cents a share vs. net earnings of 2 cents a share last year. Revenue rose to $4.8 million from $4.3 million. Interchange also cut its 3Q revenue guidance to a 3Q net loss of $1.5 - $1.6 million, or 17 - 18 cents a share, on revenue of $4.3 - $4.6 million. In April, it had targeted a 3Q loss of 6 - 9 cents a share on revenue of $6.1 - $6.4 million.

Tommy Hilfiger Corp. ((TOM)), clothing retailer, reported preliminary 1Q revenue of $319 million, down vs. $329 million a year ago. The company expects to post a narrower loss vs. the same period a year earlier. Tommy Hilfiger forecast 2006 capital expenditures of $90 million.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. ((AAP)), auto parts retailer, reported 2Q net earnings of 90 cents a share vs. 70 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter, beating analysts’ estimate of earnings at 87 cents a share. Net sales rose to $1.02 billion vs. $908.4 million last year. The company sees 3Q earnings at 78 - 83 cents a share and 4Q per-share profit at 50 - 54 cents. For 2005, the company lifted its earnings forecast to $3.12 - $3.18 a share.

Sourcecorp Inc. ((SRCP)), business process outsourcing services provider, reported 2Q net earnings of 33 cents a share, up 11% vs. 30 cents a share a year ago. Revenue rose to $106.5 million vs. $97.1 million last year. The company cut its 2005 earnings forecast to $1.27 - $1.47 a share from $1.35 - $1.55 a share. Sourcecorp also lowered its 2005 revenue outlook to $405 - $415 million from $400 - $425 million targeted earlier.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. ((NWS)) said its 4Q profit rose 67% to 22 cents a share vs. 15 cents a share, in the year-ago period on higher operating profits at its filmed entertainment and cable network divisions. Revenue rose 12% to $6.1 billion. Analysts expected a profit of 17 cents a share on revenue of $5.86 billion.

TOM Online ((TOMO)), Chinese Internet services company, announced that 2Q net profit rose 1.8% to 19.5 cents a share on record revenue up 38.5%, missing analysts’ estimate of 20 cents a share.

Liberty Global, ex-U.S. cable operator, reversed to a proforma 2Q loss of 67 cents a share despite revenue growth of up 35% and due to increased foreign currency transaction losses.

Spirent, U.K. telecom testing equipment provider, announced it turned to a first-half net loss of 36.8 million pounds vs. a net profit of 12 million pounds in the year-ago period on weak performance in its service assurance division.

Carlsberg, Danish brewer, announced that 2Q net profit reached DKK633 million ($105 million) from DKK178 million in the year-ago period due to special items last year.

Aegon, Dutch insurer, posted a 2Q net income rise of 71% to 760 million euro after 567 million euro of investment gains, with pre-tax operating earnings up 12% to 507 million euro, beating expectations of 450 million euro.

ING Groep, Dutch bank, announced 2Q net profit was down 6.7% to 1.55 billion euro mainly due to gains on divestment in the year-ago period, beating expectations of 1.22 - 1.466 billion euro.

Deutsche Telekom, telecommunication services group, announced 2Q net income rose 63.4% to 943 million euros on fewer financial expenses and lack of mobile license impairments. Revenue was up 2.6%, helped by 1.9 million new customers.

CORPORATE NEWS

First Financial Bankshares Inc. ((FFIN)) has agreed to buy Bridgeport Financial Corp. for $20.3 million, plus the assumption of $5.5 million in debt and trust preferred securities. The deal for Bridgeport, parent company of First National Bank in Texas, is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter.

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. ((GWR)) said that its North American traffic for the month of July advanced 25.1% to 66,213 carloads vs. the same month last year. Monthly Australian traffic climbed 0.3% to 80,284 carloads vs. the year ago period.

Elron Electronic Industries Ltd. ((ELRN)) disclosed the completion of a new investment of about $7 million in Israel-based BrainsGate Ltd., a developer of implantable medical devices to treat various central nervous system related diseases. Elron said it would hold 20% of BrainsGate, on a fully diluted basis, after the investment.

Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., Dynatec Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. revealed that Dynatec and Sumitomo have entered into a deal, confirmed by Implats, in which Sumitomo would buy a 25% interest in the Ambatovy Nickel Project in Madagascar.

Yahoo! Inc. ((YHOO)) and Alibaba.com disclosed a definitive agreement to form a long-term strategic partnership in China. Under the terms of the agreement, Yahoo! would contribute its Yahoo! China business to Alibaba.com and both companies would work together in an exclusive partnership to grow the Yahoo! brand in China. In addition, Yahoo! noted that it is investing $1 billion in cash to purchase Alibaba.com shares from the company and other shareholders. The deal allows Yahoo! to hold about 40% economic interest with 35% voting rights in Alibaba.com. Yahoo said the overall transaction is valued at more than $4 billion. The transaction is seen to end in 4Q of 2005.