Forum Archive Index - May 2000

["Osbert Sun" <osbert.sun@xtra.co.nz>]

Tuesday May 30, 8:02 am Eastern Time

U.S. stas investors pulled cash out of technology leaders.o

By Kristin Roberts

NEW YORK, May 30 (Reuters) - Stocks looked poised to open higher on Tuesday, with stock index futures showing hefty gains coming off strength in overseas markets and a dip in U.S. share prices last week.

Wall Street will focus on economic data this week, starting with consumer confidence figures due on Tuesday morning, analysts said. Trading volumes may continue to be thin.

``It looks like we'll open up strong,'' said Bill Meehan, chief market analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. ``We had European markets up yesterday and London is pretty strong this morning. So it looks like the late bounce we got Friday will have some continuation.''

With more than an hour to go before the opening bell, the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures for June was up 12.70 points to 1,394.00 while the Nasdaq 100 index futures gained 70 points to 3,200.00.

Some traders questioned whether the futures rally would hold.

``I think it's much too early to tell whether this will hold,'' said James Volk, co-director of institutional trading at D.A. Davidson and Co.

``There is no good news to come here in terms of earnings over the next couple of weeks,'' he said. ``We just have to digest what's going on here in terms of the economic data and the increase in interest rates.''

U.S. markets were closed on Monday for Memorial Day. On Friday, Wall Street ended lower despite a late bounce off the day's bottom to cap a tough week.

The Nasdaq composite (^IXIC - news) closed nearly unchanged, off just 0.20 of a point, or 0.01 percent, at 3,205.15. The index lost 185 points last week despite a brief rally on Wednesday.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - news) closed down 24.68 points on Friday, or 0.24 percent, at 10,299.24 after bobbing in and out of positive territory all day. The Dow fell 328 points last week.

Broader measures of the market also closed lower with the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^SPX - news) off 3.49 points, or 0.25 percent, to 1,378.03. The Wilshire 5000 index (^TMW - news), which gauge nearly the entire U.S. equity market, fell 29.56 points, or 0.23 percent, to 12,617.08.

Bond prices rose on Friday with the 10-year U.S. Treasury note up 16/32, pushing the yield down to 6.32 percent. The 30-year bond rose 26/32 with the yield at 6.06 percent, which was its lowest level since early May.

Economic data due this week will begin to offer clues on the Federal Reserve's next move on interest rates, analysts and economists said. Consumer confidence figures are due at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) on Tuesday.

The purchasing managers report, retail sales, new home sales, jobs data, and durable goods orders are scheduled for release later this week.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William McDonough will participate in a panel discussion in Paris on Tuesday morning focused on central banks and the markets. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan joins other central bankers behind closed doors on Wednesday in Paris.

In other markets, the euro climbed to five-week peaks against the dollar overnight, capitalising on fears of renewed volatility in the U.S. market, while the outlook for the euro zone continued to improve.

The euro stretched as far as $0.9410. The dollar was losing ground across the board with its deepest losses set against sterling and the Swiss franc.

Telecommunications stocks were in the spotlight following France Telecom's (NYSE:FTE - news) $37 billion cash and share deal to buy Britain's third biggest mobile phone group, Orange Plc.

Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU - news), the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker, is in talks to acquire optical networking equipment company Chromatis Networks Inc. for up to $5.7 billion in stock, industry sources said.

Lucent shares closed Friday at 56.