Before the bell: Futures lower on economic concerns; retail, tech in focus

Posted Nov 19th 2009 7:40AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Before the Bell, Microsoft (MSFT), Dell (DELL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Market Matters, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Sears Holdings (SHLD), Gap Inc (GPS), Economic Data, salesforce.com inc (CRM)

U.S. stock futures declined Thursday morning, pointing to a lower start on Wall Street as investors started weighing the possibility that stocks have run up too far and too fast ahead of the economy -- the economic recovery may not be as robust. The retail sector is in focus with several retailers reporting earnings. The tech sector could also experience pressure.

On Wednesday, stocks ended lower with technology shares leading the decline, and the Nasdaq composite down nearly half a percent. Results from Salesforce.com (CRM) and Autodesk (ADSK) weighed on the sector as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Microsoft (MSFT) were among the leading decliners in the Dow.

Several economic indicators are also in focus this morning:

At 8:30 a.m. Eastern, weekly initial and continuing jobless claims will be reported. While the market expects initial claims to have ticked up, continuing claims are expected to continue the downward trend of the past few weeks.
At 10:00 a.m., October leading economic indicators is due out.
At the same time, November Philly Fed survey, a reading on regional manufacturing, will also be reported and is expected to have increased.

Meanwhile, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development more than doubled its estimate for 2010 growth in its 30 member countries -- which include the U.S., Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom -- to 1.9%. The U.S. and Japan are expected to outpace Europe. And the recovery, the report says, remains fragile.

Among stocks reporting earnings today are Sears Holdings (SHLD) (report), Dell (DELL) and The Gap (GPS). Also, eight microchip companies will likely see some pressure after a downgrade by Bank of America. Finally, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is buying the half of Cazenove that it does not already own for about $1.67 billion.

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