U.S. stock futures were lower this morning, indicating stocks could start the day and week on the down side after Yahoo! rejected over the weekend Microsoft's raised bid. With Microsoft withdrawing its bid, shares of Yahoo! are expected to lose the 50% they have gained since the bid talk. Share of Microsoft, though, are expected to rise.U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday, but finished the week with gains as stocks rose to four-months highs. The Dow industrials ended Friday up 48 points, or 0.36%, the S&P 500 gained 4 points, or 0.32%, while the Nasdaq Composite ended down 3 points, or 0.15%.
Not much economic news is due out this week, but some indicators may still affect sentiment. Today, April's index will be reported at 10:00 a.m., after the market open, and is expected to show a slight decline in April.
Also, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to speak in New York about mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures.
Meanwhile, the dollar lost ground against several other currencies, and oil prices rose on supply worries after an attack on a Shell oil station Nigeria. U.S. crude rose close to $117 a barrel.
Without a doubt, the focus of investors this morning is Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). While Microsoft raised its bid to $33 per share, valuing Yahoo at $46 billion, Yahoo! wanted $37 per share. It is unclear why the two couldn't find common ground at $35 per share. While the heat may very well be on Yahoo! at the moment, with CEO Yang having to prove Yahoo! is better off on its own ... or else, there could be some pressure on CEO Ballmer as well. Initially MSFT stock is expected to rise, but the company still needs to find a solution to its losing internet business. MSFT stocks is up 4.5% in premarket trading to $30.56. YHOO stock is down over 23% to $22.01. To top things off, several analysts have already lowered their rating on Yahoo shares, some even to Sell.
Staying in deal news, Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT) is considering a bid to acquire Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), according to The Wall Street Journal. Sprint shares are up 6.7% in premarket trading.
UBS (NYSE: UBS) was also reported it may cut as many as 8,000 jobs as it deals with the biggest credit writedowns of any European bank and an $11.4 billion first-quarter loss.
Before the bell: Futures decline as oil falls sharply; GM's bankruptcy plan approved
Entrepreneur's Journal: Key steps for telesales success
The week in preview: Focus returns to earnings: Alcoa, Chevron, Family Dollar
