By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures signaled modest
losses for Wall Street on Friday, with the pullback coming after
news of New York's first reported case of Ebola.
Corporate quarterly results, however, remain in focus, as the
latest reports are scheduled to come from Procter & Gamble Co.
and Ford Motor Co.
Futures, as well as the dollar (DXY), fell overnight following
news late Thursday that a New York doctor has contracted the deadly
Ebola virus, marking the first such case in the city. Recently
heightened concerns about the disease spreading have already put
travel-related stocks under pressure. U.S. Treasurys strengthened
"as [the] Ebola-scare in New York spurred the safe-haven demand for
bonds," drawing the benchmark 10-year yield to around 2.25%
compared with Thursday's close of 2.27%, ICICI Bank wrote in a
note.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJZ4) were off
their lows, but were still down by 43 points, or 0.3%, to 16,576
and those for the S&P 500 index (SPZ4) lost 7 points, or 0.3%,
at 1,939.50. Nasdaq 100 futures (NDZ4) slumped 14.25 points, or
0.4%, to 3,991.
Investors may also take a cautious approach Friday ahead of this
weekend's release of results from the European Union's stress tests
for banks, which are set to be released as investors have been
confronting a raft of data showing slowing growth in Europe.
Also around the corner is next week's Federal Reserve policy
meeting. The Fed is expected to end its third-round of bond buying,
which had been aimed at helping the U.S. economy emerge from the
financial crisis in 2008.
"The central question then that traders will be asking (assuming
Ebola looks to be contained) will be whether the Fed removes the
'considerable period' for keeping the funds rate low," said Chris
Weston, chief market strategist at IG, referring to the Fed's
policy statement in a Friday note. It's likely the Fed will
"continue to see rates staying low for a considerable period of
time and remain confident in its economic outlook, thus sending a
message of confidence to the market," Weston wrote.
Wall Street's equity benchmarks were on pace to rise between
1.8% and 4.6% for the week, which would break a four-week losing
streak.
Strong results from Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) and 3M Co. (MMM) on
Thursday fueled a 217-point leap for the Dow Jones Industrial
Average(DJI). The S&P 500 (SPX) jumped 1.3% and the Nasdaq
Composite (RIXF) bounced higher by 1.6%.
Data: A report on sales of new single-family homes for September
from the Commerce Department are due at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. Sales
on a seasonally adjusted annual rate may come in at 455,000.
Earnings: Before the opening bell, Procter & Gamble (PG)
shares climbed 2% after the consumer-goods heavyweight said it
plans to get out of its Duracell battery business. Also,
quarterly-adjusted earnings of $1.07 a share met analyst
expectations.
Ford's (F) third-quarter profit fell to $835 million, and pretax
profit fell to $1.18 billion, but the figures beat Wall Street's
projection. Shares slipped 0.5% after the report.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s (BMY) adjusted earnings of 45 cents
for the third quarter was ahead of Wall Street's estimate by 2
cents a share. The drug maker lowered its full-year 2014 estimate
for net earnings per share, but affirmed its adjusted EPS outlook
of $1.70 to $1.80. Shares rose 1% in scant volume premarket.
Stocks to watch: Amazon.com (AMZN) dropped 10% in premarket
action. Late Thursday, the online retailer reported a
wider-than-expected third-quarter loss and projected sales growth
that fell below expectations.
Microsoft (MSFT) shares picked up 3.1% ahead of the bell after
the company posted fiscal first-quarter earnings of 54 cents a
share on revenue of $23.2 billion. Analysts expected 49 cents a
share on revenue of $22.01 billion.
Shares of haz-mat maker Lakeland Industries Inc. (LAKE) jumped
20% in the wake of the new Ebola case in New York.
Other markets: In Asia, the Nikkei Stock Average rose 1% but
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.1%. European stocks moved lower.
Gold futures (GCZ4) were slightly higher, but oil futures (CLZ4)
lost ground.
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