Stock futures were mixed earlier this morning with S&P 500 futures pointing slightly higher as BHP Billiton made a $110 billion offer to buy rival Rio Tinto, but Nasdaq futures declined following tech bellwether Cisco Systems' dim outlook for the U.S. economy. With Toll Brothers reporting, the housing market and the credit crunch continued to weigh on investors.Yesterday, U.S. stocks saw a sharp selloff as Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) gave a bearish outlook, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) announced a big write-down, General Motors (NYSE: GM) reported a $39 billion loss and the dollar kept its slide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 361 points, or 2.64%, the S&P 500 dropped 44 points, or 2.94%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 76 points, or 2.7%.
Today, weekly jobless claims data is due at 8:30 a.m. EST and Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke is due to testify on the state of the economy.
Oil prices retreated to below $96 a barrel today after a smaller-than-expected drop in U.S. crude supplies was reported yesterday. The euro and the British pound edged higher against the dollar after the Bank of England kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a six-year high. The European Central Bank is also expected to keep rates unchanged.
Overseas, Asian markets fell, following Wall Street. Japan's benchmark index sank 2%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong tumbled 3.2%. China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 4.9% in its biggest one-day decline in four months. Shares also fell in Australia, India, South Korea and the Philippines. European markets were mixed.
Despite the relief from lower oil prices, it is Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) that is shaking the markets this morning, especially the tech heavy Nasdaq. Despite reporting a strong quarter, beating analysts estimates, CEO John Chambers said he expects the cooling U.S. economy to hamper the unit of the Internet server maker that deals with businesses. CSCO shares are declining over 6.5% in premarket trading (7:21 a.m.).
BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP), the world's biggest mining company, said it offered to buy rival Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP), a proposal that was rejected. Rio stock rallied as much as 25% in London, while the company has a current market value of $161 billion.
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