NY Rebounds as Fed Cuts Discount Rate to 5.75%

Elena
17 Aug, 2007
New York City

U.S. stock futures rallied on Friday, recovering from steep losses in the previous session amid growing credit markets worries. The rebound followed an unexpected move by the Federal Reserve of reducing the discount rate by half a percentage point to 5.75%, trying to relieve investors'' fears about market liquidity. The Fed cut the rate that it charges member banks for loans.

[R]09:00AM U.S. stock futures rallied after the Fed Reserve cut the discount rate by half a percentage point to 5.75%.[/R]

U.S. stock futures rallied on Friday, recovering from steep losses in the previous session amid growing credit markets worries. The rebound followed an unexpected move by the Federal Reserve of reducing the discount rate by half a percentage point to 5.75%, trying to relieve investors'' fears about market liquidity. The Fed cut the rate that it charges member banks for loans.

Among pre-market highlights, much troubled lender Countrywide Financial ((CFC)) rebounded 10% after Banc of America Securities upgraded its stock. In other corporate news, Wild Oats ((OATS)) surged 19% after a federal judge blocked a government regulator's request to block a proposed acquisition by Whole Foods. S&P 500 futures were up 26.3 points, well above fair value. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 189 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 41.50 points.


[R]08:00AM Hewlett-Packard posted 29% earnings jump in Q3 on strong demand for PCs.[/R]

Hewlett-Packard Co. ((HPQ)) posted better-than-expected Q3 profit and sales, boosted by strong demand for personal computers and lucrative printer ink. The company said its earnings jumped 29% to $1.78 billion, or 66 cents per share, higher from the $1.38 billion, or 48 cents per share a year ago. Excluding one-time charges, HP earned 71 cents per share, beating the average analyst estimate of 66 cents a share.

The tech giant reported 16% sales increase, totaling $25.38 billion. Revenues were more than $1 billion higher than the $24.09 billion in sales expected by analysts. The biggest sales jump came within the company''s Personal Systems Group, which includes desktop and laptop computers. The stock edged down 0.11% in pre-market trading.