Renewable energy stocks point higher in premarket trading
By Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures dropped Monday as investors continued to assess the financial impact of Friday’s devastating earthquake, while Lubrizol Corp. was in focus on news that it will be acquired by Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJM11 12,008, +88.00, +0.74%) fell 71 points to 11,932, and futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (SPM11 1,294, -7.60, -0.58%) shed 8.5 points to 1,292.7.
On Friday, U.S. markets recovered from early losses to close higher, as investors were relieved that large protests in Saudi Arabia failed to materialize and as materials companies gained on expectations that they could benefit from rebuilding efforts in Japan. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA 12,044, +59.79, +0.50%) ended the day up almost 60 points.
Monday’s decline in stock futures came after Japan’s Nikkei 225 Average slumped 6.2% — its worst one-day performance in more than two years. Read more about Japanese stocks.
Companies with links to the nuclear industry were among the hardest hit after a second explosion at a nuclear plant that was damaged by Friday’s earthquake.
Shares of General Electric Co. (GE 19.78, -0.58, -2.85%) dropped 2.4% in premarket trading. The company designed all six of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan.
Several uranium producers also fell heavily in U.S. premarket trading. Shares of Denison Mines Corp. (DNN 2.50, -0.79, -24.01%) and Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC 3.79, -1.06, -21.86%) dropped 24% and 18%, respectively, ahead of the open, and Uranerz Energy Corp. (URZ 3.95, -0.12, -2.95%) fell 23%.
Premarket gainers included stocks linked to renewable energy sources. The American depositary receipts of Renesola Ltd (SOL 9.40, +0.69, +7.92%) rose 10%, and Suntech Power Holdings Co. (STP 8.64, +0.60, +7.46%) rallied 12%.
Shares of lubricants and fuel-additives producer Lubrizol (LZ 105.44, +0.37, +0.35%) surged 28% on news that it will be bought by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A 128,000, +310.00, +0.24%) (BRK.B 85.30, +0.32, +0.38%) in a $9.7 billion deal. Read more on the acquisition of Lubrizol.
No significant economic reports are on the calendar for Monday, but Tuesday will bring the release of the latest policy statement from the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee.
The dollar was trading slightly higher against the yen, but lower against the euro. The greenback rose 0.2% to ¥81.984, while the euro gained 0.4% to $1.3959.
“All the focus is on Japan for the moment, and it’s easy to forget that at the same time the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa continues,” said Simon Denham, head of Capital Spreads.
“The pressure on [Libyan leader Moammar] Gadhafi took another step forward, with the Arab League now pushing for a no-fly zone,” he added.
Crude-oil prices continued to pull back from recent highs, dropping back below $100 a barrel in electronic trading. Light crude for April delivery fell $1.77 to $99.39 a barrel on Globex.
Other stocks likely to be in focus Monday include Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ 41.27, -0.46, -1.10%) and Chevron Corp. (CVX 99.79, -0.14, -0.14%) , which are both holding analyst meetings.
In other international markets, Germany’s DAX 30 index (DX:DAX 6,917, -64.21, -0.92%) dropped 0.9%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Composite closed up 0.4%.
