Before the bell: Futures lower after WMT earnings, ahead of data

Posted May 13th 2008 7:40AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Before the Bell, Earnings Reports, Deals, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Wal-Mart (WMT), Market Matters, International Business Machines (IBM), Toll Brothers (TOL), Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Economic Data, Federal Reserve

U.S. stock futures fell Tuesday morning even after (or perhaps because) Wal-Mart reported a 7% profit rise, slightly above analyst estimates. But investors also awaited several economic indicators due out today as well as speeches from several of the Federal Reserve members.

U.S. stocks finished the day with strong gains Monday thanks to a drop in crude oil futures and several deal speculations that hit the Street. The Dow industrials went up 130 points, or 1.02%, the Nasdaq Composite was up 42 points, or 1.76%, and the S&P 500 finished the day 15 points, or 1.10%, higher.

At 8:30 a.m. EDT April export and import prices as well as retail sales data are due. Economists expect retail sales to have declined 0.2%, and excluding autos, they expect sales to have increased 0.2% in the month. The difference in the two gauges isn't surprising as higher gasoline prices were bound to put consumers off buying cars.
At 10:00 a.m. EDT, March business inventory levels are due.

But other than raw data, seven Fed members are also scheduled to give speeches, including one from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke in Atlanta on the central bank's liquidity measures.

Oil prices dropped below $124 a barrel Tuesday as trader may have taken profit following the recent records set daily last week and Monday. The dollar, meanwhile, managed to mostly keep its current level.

Corporate news this morning includes, of course, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) earnings.
The world's largest retailer, reported a 7% rise in quarterly profit. It seems that the current economic climate benefited the giant discount retailers as U.S. shoppers were out in droves looking for bargains even on necessities like food and pharmacy items.

Late Monday we also heard that Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) could be near a deal to buy Electronic Data Systems Corp. (NYSE: EDS). Many view this deal as a sign to come in the industry, expecting it to spark a round of consolidation in the technology outsourcing sector around the globe. Just as this move is seen as an attempt by HP to better compete with International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) in technology services, other deals would be an attempt to keep competitive.

And from the housing sector, luxury home builder Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) said its homebuilding revenue likely fell 30% in its fiscal second quarter, and continued to refer to "challenging times" ahead.

Tags: eds, featured, hpq, ibm, tol, wmt