Market to Open Higher

Elena
14 Sep, 2005
New York City

Asian-Pacific masrkets ended mostly up with the Nikkei down 0.5% and China's Shanghai Composite up at a five-month peak of 0.8%. European stocks enjoy steady trading at mid-day. Retail sales for August were $350.1 billion, down 2.1 percent from July,but up 7.9 percent from one year ago. Excluding automobiles, retail sales in August were $274.9 billion, up 1.0 percent from July, and up 9.4 percent from one year ago.

U.S. MARKET AVERAGES

The U.S. stock futures are trading in the positive, rebounding from Tuesday’s sharp levels of decline on the retailer sector and rising oil. Crude-oil is on the rise again as investors bought energy stocks in a large scale, awaiting U.S. petroleum-stocks report, expected to show lower fuel inventories, caused by production outages on Katrina’s impact.

The direction of the new trading session is expected to be given by retail sales and industrial production reports fore July.

Dow Jones futures were recently up 9 points, while Nasdaq futures were up 2 points and S&P futures were ahead 1.7 point.

Lehman Brothers, brokerage companiy, is expected to release 3Q earnings of $2.37 a share.
Brady Corp, label maker, is expected to report 4Q earnings of 33 cents a share.

ECONOMIC NEWS

Before the opening bell Wednesday, the U.S. Commerce Department revealed Wednesday that retail sales dropped by a seasonally adjusted 2.1% in August, a steeper decline than the 1.4% fall expected by economists. In July, retail sales rose by 1.8%. Auto sales plunged 12% in August; excluding this sector, retail sales increased by a better-than-expected 1%.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to release the August production report at 9:15 a.m. EDT. Economists forecast a 0.3 percent increase in industrial production in August after a sluggish 0.1 percent gain in the prior month, and for the capacity utilization rate to inch up to 79.8 percent from 79.7 percent


INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS

Asian-Pacific benchmarks closed mixed on oil prices hovering below $64 a barrel, concerns of U.S. economy slowdown and lower corporate profits after Katrina’s impact. The Japanese stock market slid 0.5%, retreating from a four-year high Tuesday on sharp U.S. markets decline overnight. China’s Shanghai Composite surged to a five-month high of 0.8% on optimism about nontradable reform. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.1% and South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.1%. The dollar bought 110.34 yen.

European stocks gain ground in mid-day dealings on gains from the automotive sector after monthly sales data release, but keep near the flat-line level on rising oil. The German DAX 30 was trading flat, the French CAC 40 climbed 0.4%, and London’s FTSE 100 added 0.1%.

ENERGY, METALS, CURRENCIES

Oil prices advanced ahead of weekly U.S. petroleum-stocks report, expected to show lower fuel inventories due to refineries shutdowns after Katrina. Light sweet crude October delivery rose 56 cents to $63.67 a barrel in the electronic trading on the Nymex. Gasoline added 2 cents to $1.9120 a gallon, while heating oil gained 1.5 cents to $1.8555 a gallon. London Brent was up 39 cents to $62.00.

Gold price climbed in European trading. In London the precious metal was traded at the recommended price of $447.85 per troy ounce, up from $445.80. In Hong Kong gold fell 60 cents to $447.75. Silver traded at $6.94, up from $6.90.

The U.S. dollar lost ground against its major counterparts in European currency trading. The euro was quoted at $1.2276, up from $1.2267. The greenback changed hands at 110.36 yen, down from 110.70. The British pound was quoted at $1.8225, up from $1.8219.

EARNINGS NEWS

Touchstone Applied, ((TASA)) educational assessment products provider, posted 3Q net income for the company's 5 cents per share, down from 7 cents per share in the comparable quarter a year ago despite revenue and gross operating margins growth, due to increased professional
fees and costs associated with implementation of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Comarco Inc., ((CMRO)) provider of wireless test solutions, reported 2Q of fiscal 2006 revenue was $11.1 million, up 67% up from $6.7 million in revenue fro the same time last year.

Pike Electric Corporation, ((PEC)) providers of outsourced electric distribution and transmission services, reported 4Q net loss 65 cents per share, down from net income of 24 cents per share in the same quarter of the previous year. Revenues rose $61.4 million, or 65.5%, to $155.0 million from $93.6 million for the year-ago period, driven primarily by the acquisition of Red Simpson, Inc. in July 2004 and organic growth the result of strong customer demand.

]