Nokia, Alcatel in focus after Goldman Sachs upgrades
By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures were pointing to a slightly higher start for Wall Street on Monday, with economic data on tap and crude prices in focus after Libyan rebels took control of key oil towns over the weekend.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJM11 12,173, +3.00, +0.03%) rose 12 points to 12,182, while futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (SPM11 1,311, +0.80, +0.06%) gained 1.3 points to 1,311.30.
Nasdaq 100 futures (NDM11 2,325, +7.50, +0.32%) rose 6.75 points to 2,323.75.
U.S. stocks climbed for a third session on Friday, helped by the technology sector and upbeat economic-growth data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA 12,221, +50.03, +0.41%) gained 3.1% last week.
Economic data for Monday include February personal income, due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, as well as pending home sales for February, due at 10 a.m.
Later in the day, Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans will speak at the University of South Carolina.
A heavy week of economic data will finish with nonfarm payrolls and the ISM manufacturing index, both due for release on Friday.
“This is a week where we should learn a little more about how recent events have impacted the global economy — if indeed they have,” said Jim Reid, strategist at Deutsche Bank, in a note to investors.
“For the recent wobbles in risk assets to be part of a deeper trend, it really has to impact key data points like the ISM at some point,” he said.
U.S-listed shares of AstraZeneca PLC (AZN 46.14, -0.03, -0.06%) (UK:AZN 2,891, +17.00, +0.59%) could be active after the company lifted its earnings per share guidance for 2011 due to a lower effective tax rate as a result of a tax arrangement reached by U.S. and U.K. authorities. The company said core earnings per share are now seen in the range of $6.90 to $7.20, up from the previous guidance of $6.45 to $6.75.
Shares of Alcatel-Lucent (ALU 5.34, +0.01, +0.19%) (FR:ALU 3.99, +0.20, +5.28%) rose over 5.6% in premarket trading after Goldman Sachs upgraded the firm to buy from neutral, saying it sees the company sustaining high-single-digit earnings before interest and taxation margin from 2012.
Goldman also lifted shares of Finnish mobile-phone maker Nokia Corp. (NOK 8.35, -0.10, -1.18%) (FI:NOK1V 6.12, +0.15, +2.43%) to buy from neutral, saying the company is now in a period of “maximum uncertainty, creating a long-term opportunity for value investors.” The analysts also said that the market was being too pessimistic over Nokia’s recent joint venture with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT 25.62, -0.19, -0.74%) . Shares of Nokia rose 2.8% in premarket trade.
European stocks traded mostly higher, though shares of Philips Electronics NV (NL:PHIA 22.21, -0.37, -1.64%) (PHG 31.82, -0.18, -0.56%) stumbled after the company warned of losses for its television unit.
Asian markets were broadly weaker. The Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NI225 9,479, -57.60, -0.60%) pared losses and closed slightly lower as efforts to stabilize the struggling Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were hampered by high levels of radiation.
Crude oil for May delivery (CLK11 104.86, -0.54, -0.51%) fell 53 cents to $104.90 a barrel in Globex electronic trading. Over the weekend, rebel forces in Libya regained control of key oil towns, helping to reassure markets that crude exports could see a fast restart if Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s regime collapses.
Gold for May delivery (GCK11 1,431, -0.10, -0.0070%) dropped $6.40 to $1,420.50 an ounce.
The U.S. dollar was 0.4% higher against the Japanese yen at ¥81.77 and down slightly against the euro at $1.4056.
