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Stock poised to open mixed

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[August 02, 2007]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks were poised to open little changed Thursday, with Wall Street coming off a strong gain Wednesday but still nervous that a tightening in U.S. lending could impede corporate and economic growth.

Investors parsed more earnings reports, and awaited the European Central Bank's interest rate decision. The Bank of England kept its key rate steady at 5.75 percent Thursday, after raising it by a quarter-point last month. More rate boosts overseas could further injure the dollar, which is trading near multi-year lows against the euro and the British pound.

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The stock market rose sharply during the last 20 minutes of trading Wednesday, after ricocheting all day due to ongoing jitters about U.S. home loans and the availability of corporate credit. The Dow Jones industrials rallied 150 points.

The blue chip index, now 4.6 percent below the record close it reached in early July, has seen triple-digit swings become the norm in recent weeks. Last week, the Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 index suffered their worst weekly losses in five years.

Dow futures expiring in September rose 6, or 0.04 percent, to 13,410. Standard & Poor's 500 futures rose 0.90, or 0.06 percent, to 1,470.80, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 2.25, or 0.11 percent, to 1,958.25.

Bonds held steady in premarket trading, with the 10-year Treasury note's yield at 4.79 percent, the same as late Wednesday.

In corporate news, Advanced Medical Optics Inc. on Wednesday withdrew its $4.2 billion bid for rival eye care products maker Bausch & Lomb Inc., clearing the way for Bausch & Lomb to be bought for $3.67 billion by Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm.

Nokia Corp., the biggest cell phone maker in the world, said its second-quarter profit more than doubled on strong sales and that it had further increased its market share. Shares of the Finnish company rose more than 7 percent in Helsinki trading.

Automotive supplier Lear Corp. swung to a better-than-expected profit in the second quarter despite lower revenue, thanks to cost-cutting.

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The economic data schedule is slim Thursday, with the Commerce Department reporting on factory orders and the Labor Department reporting on weekly jobless claims. Investors are more eagerly awaiting the Labor Department's July employment report, which will be released Friday.

Crude oil futures fell 70 cents to $75.83 a barrel in preopening trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude closed at a record $78.21 a barrel on Tuesday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies. Gold prices rose.

In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.67 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dipped 0.05 percent, and China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.5 percent.

In European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.60 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.92 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.63 percent.

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On the Net:

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com/

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com/

[Associated Press; by Madlen Read]

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

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