Stock Futures Rise Ahead of GDP Report

admin | January 27, 2012

NEW YORK (TheStreet) — U.S. stock futures were signaling a positive open Friday as investors awaited data expected to show that the U.S. economy grew in the fourth quarter.

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NEW YORK (TheStreet) — U.S. stock futures were signaling a positive open Friday as investors awaited data expected to show that the U.S. economy grew in the fourth quarter.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were rising 8 points, or 11.3 points above fair value, at 12,692. Futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.9 points, or 1.8 points above fair value, at 1316, and futures for the Nasdaq adding 4.2 points, or 6.3 points above fair value, at 2457.

Stocks dropped Thursday as disappointing housing numbers and weak jobless data overshadowed strong earnings from a handful of corporate heavyweights. On Friday at 8:30 a.m. EST, the Bureau of Economic Analysis is scheduled to provide its report on the total output of goods and services in the U.S. during the fourth quarter. Gross domestic product probably came in at 3.1%, an improvement from 1.8% in the third quarter, according to economists polled by Thomson Reuters. Other data Friday includes the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for January at 9:55 a.m. Economists expect the final reading to remain unchanged at 74.
London’s FTSE was slipping 0.14%, and Germany’s DAX was up 0.30%. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei Average closed lower by 0.09%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index finished higher by 0.31%. In corporate news, Starbucks’(SBUX) outlook for fiscal 2012 came in short of the consensus view. The Seattle-based coffee seller said it expects earnings of $1.78 to $1.82 a share for the full year, slightly below analysts’ expectations for profit of $1.83 a share. The company said it expects “unfavorable” commodity costs to impact results this year with the brunt of the impact coming in the first half of the year. Juniper Networks(JNPR) reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and issued weak first-quarter guidance. Juniper reported fourth-quarter earnings of 28 cents a share on revenue of $1.12 billion. Wall Street analysts expected Juniper to earn 28 cents on $1.126 billion in revenue. First-quarter guidance was weaker than Wall Street analysts were anticipating, as customer spending continues to be sluggish. Juniper expects first-quarter revenue of between $960 million and $990 million and earnings of 11 cents to 14 cents a share. Wall Street analysts expected $1.1 billion in revenue and 26 cents in earnings, according to Yahoo! Finance. Biotech company Amgen(AMGN) said fourth-quarter profit fell 8.5% as expenses for taxes and for producing and selling drugs rose faster than revenue. Amgen reported net income of $934 million, or $1.08 a share, down from $1.02 billion, or $1.08 a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, Amgen said it earned $1.04 billion, or $1.21 a share; analysts were expecting adjusted propfit of $1.22 a share. Revenue rose 3% to $3.97 billion. Analysts expected revenue of $3.92 billion. A federal judge on Thursday ruled that Transocean(RIG)is shielded from paying out certain claims against it stemming from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 because of its contract with BP(BP). March oil futures were up 47 cents to $100.17 a barrel, while February gold futures were off $1.60 to $1,725.10 an ounce. Most Recent Quotes fromwww.kitco.com The benchmark 10-year Treasury was falling 5/32, raising yield to 1.954%, while the U.S. dollar index was falling 0.3% to $79.15. – Written by Andrea Tse in New York. >To contact the writer of this article, click here: Andrea Tse.>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints