Stocks head to a mixed open ahead of data

[July 25, 2008]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street headed for a narrowly mixed open Friday ahead of economic reports on durable goods, new home sales, and consumer sentiment.

Investors might be hesitant to jump back into equities, as major indexes fell about 2 percent on Thursday after a steeper-than-expected decline in existing home sales and concerns about financial services companies. The Dow Jones industrial gave up more than 280 points.

On Friday, investors are awaiting a government report expected to show new home sales in June fell for the seventh time in the past eight months. The Commerce Department's report is scheduled for release at 10 a.m. EDT.

Sales are expected to have declined by 1.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 505,000, down from a rate of 512,000 in May, according to the consensus forecast of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR.

A revised report on July consumer sentiment is expected to show that Americans remain downbeat about the economy. Wall Street expects the Reuters/University of Michigan monthly index of consumer sentiment to come in at 56.4, according to estimates. That would be down slightly from the preliminary reading of 56.6, and unchanged from the June index of 56.4, which was the lowest level in 28 years. The final July report will be released at 9:55 a.m. EDT.

Investors will also pore over data that is expected to show that demand for costly manufactured goods fell in June, another sign of the economy's weakness. The Commerce Department's index of orders placed at U.S. factories for big-ticket goods, such as cars, appliances and machinery, will drop by 0.4 percent in June from the previous month, according to the consensus estimate of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR. The data will be released at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 9, or 0.03 percent, to 11,342.

Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 1.25, or 0.07 percent, to 1,254.50. Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 1.75, or 0.10 percent, to 1,821.25.

Bond prices edged higher Friday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.99 percent from 4.00 percent from late Thursday.

The dollar was higher against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Oil extended a small rebound after sharp declines over the past two weeks. The market remained weighed down by the belief that flagging fuel demand did not justify the recent high prices. A barrel of light sweet crude rose 63 cents to $126.12 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In corporate news, chemicals maker Huntsman Corp. said it was approached by investors offering funding to help complete its $6.5 billion takeover by Apollo Management.

Juniper Networks Inc., the maker of networking equipment, reported a 40 percent increase in earnings for the second quarter, helped by a new product line. Results narrowly surpassed Wall Street projections.

Shares of DaVita Inc. could jump after Standard & Poor's said the provider of dialysis services will replace Clear Channel Communications Inc. in its flagship S&P 500 index. The change will happen after the close of trading July 30.

Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.97 percent. In morning trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.81 percent, Germany's DAX index dropped 1.26 percent, and France's CAC-40 shed 0.64 percent.

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On the Net:

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[Associated Press; By JOE BEL BRUNO]

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