Flat to lower start; soft profit results vs. overseas gains
U.S. stocks are expected to open flat to slightly lower, pressured by sloppy corporate profit reports, which should offset modest gains in Europe and Asia in overnight trading, with the latter region boosted by Chinese stimulus spending and rate cuts in Indonesia.
However, gains in Europe were sliced after Russia’s debt ratings were cut. The ADP Employment Report came out in line with expectations and appeared to have only minor impact on pre-market trading. The Dow was called 25 points lower while the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was seen flat to slightly lower at 452.50.
The ADP report reflected a loss of 522,000 on non-farm payrolls and the survey projected the U.S. report Friday to show a loss of 525,000. Friday’s Labor Department report is expected to show a loss of 500,000 non-farm jobs and a jobless rate of 7.5%.
On the earnings front today, The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS), Costco Wholesale Corp. (Nasdaq:COST) and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) all were seeing sizable losses in pre-market trading after releasing weak profit reports. Small-cap chip designer Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS) fell some 20% in extended trading Tuesday on news that a judge postponed a patent trial dispute.
The chart picture for small caps shows that the Russell has nestled into another trading range, punctuated by moderate to light volume. The push back above 450 on Tuesday was a supportive signal, and the overall trading range pattern has a mild upside bias because of higher recent lows. For today’s session, look for resistance at 459 and 466, while support is 445.50, then at 439.
