Market Sees Moderately Positive Open
The broad stock market appeared set to
open flat to slightly higher Thursday with most of the demand focused on tech
issues.
The September S&P futures contract
rose 1.30 points to 1482.30 vs. fair value of 1481.19, as calculated by HL Camp
& Co. The Dow futures were up 4.00 to 10960.00, Nasdaq futures up 3.00 to
3696.50. Â
“The futures are modestly positive
and suggest the open will be modestly positive,” said Bryan Brown,
principal of Spectrum Equity Services LLC, a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based
institutional advisor. “However, the Nasdaq closed heavy in its range
beneath its 200-day moving average on Wednesday. The Nasdaq, Dow and S&P
have negative short-term profiles. This market continues to seek confirmation of
last Thursday’s positive Nasdaq reversal. Yesterday was not it. And today is
unlikely to be it.”
This Morning
The Gap
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PowerRating) posted net income of
21 cents a share in the July 29 second quarter vs. 22 cents a year ago and
analyst estimates averaging 20 cents, according to First Call/Thomson Financial.
The apparel retailer said Q3 earnings could drop below the 35 cents a share in
Q3 1999 if current conditions continue.
Singapore-based electronics JIT
Holdings Ltd said it has agreed to be acquired by Flextronics International
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PowerRating).
Under the terms of the deal, Flextronics would issue $640 million in stock in
exchange for all JIT shares and options, based on the Flextronics’ closing price
of $77.375 on Aug. 9.
Electronic Arts
(
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PowerRating) said it has
won worldwide rights to develop software and Internet games based on “Harry
Potter” series of children’s books. The terms of the deal with Warner Bros, a
unit of Time Warner
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PowerRating), were not disclosed.
Overnight
Applied Materials
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PowerRating), the
world’s biggest maker of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, reported net
income of 70 cents a share in the July 30 fiscal third quarter, more than double
30 cents a share a year ago and beating analyst estimates of 68 cents a share.
Sales expanded to $2.73 billion from $1.49 billion. Orders climbed to $3.28
billion.
NetZero
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PowerRating), the No. 1 free
Internet service provider, reported a fiscal Q4 loss of 26 cents a share, vs. a
loss of 27 cents a year ago and analysts estimates averaging a loss of 29 cents.
Sales climbed to $18.7 million from $3.7 million.
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