Deflation!
Despite the biggest drop-off in the Producer Price Index core rate since Aug.
1993, stocks are set for a negative open Friday ahead of the key consumer
sentiment numbers due out shortly.
The PPI rose 0.1% as expected, but the core rate fell 0.3%, which was much
less inflationary than the expected 0.1% gain.
The Dow futures are down 19 points, and the Nasdaq futures are down 4.5
points.
The S&Ps look to open down 1.7 while the yield on the 10-year is 4.76%.
The Michigan Consumer Sentiment Report is the next piece of key economic data
to watch, and it will be released at 10:00 AM ET. Analysts are looking for a
reading of 87.0, and anything below that level makes a stronger case for a
larger Fed rate cut.
Friday Movers
Software maker Adobe Systems
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PowerRating) posted earnings of 33 cents per
share after the bell Thursday, and that soundly topped the 28 cents that
analysts had expected. After closing 1 1/8 to 25, the maker of the popular
Acrobat software is trading up to 27 1/2 in pre-market activity.
After collapsing 13 5/16 to 29 5/8 following a profit warning, shares of
Intuit
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PowerRating) are getting a slight bounce Friday, and are currently trading
up to 30 1/2 in pre-market activity.
In the chips, Xilinx
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PowerRating) is showing a positive slant and is currently
trading up to 44 following a Thursday close of 43 9/16 while Intel
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PowerRating)
is also looking up, trading at 29 1/4 after a 28 7/16 close.
Oracle
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PowerRating) matched earnings Thursday but said future quarters would
likely show weakness. Oracle closed at 14 11/16 and is trading down to 14 9/16.