Stocks heading for narrowly mixed open

[July 28, 2008]  NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks headed for a mixed open Monday as investors digested mostly better-than-expected quarterly results from Verizon Communications Inc. and Kraft Foods Inc.

Verizon said its second-quarter profit rose 12 percent, although revenue came in short of Wall Street's forecasts. Excluding items, Verizon earned 67 cents a share compared with 65 cents a share analysts had expected.

Kraft said increased prices helped offset rising commodity costs and left second-quarter earnings up by nearly 4 percent. The company also raised its forecast for the year.

Beyond corporate news, investors are waiting to see if oil prices' sharp drop of recent weeks has come to an end, or is just pausing. Light, sweet crude rose $1.23 per barrel to $124.49 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 1, or 0.01 percent, to 11,315. But the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 0.80, or 0.06 percent, to 1,265.60, while Nasdaq 100 index futures advanced 4.50, or 0.24 percent, to 1,845.50.

Stocks mostly fell last week as investors worried about the financial and housing sectors. The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced following several strong corporate reports in the sector.

Bond prices rose Monday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 4.08 percent from 4.10 percent from late Thursday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Investors will also be looking later in the week to economic reports on employment, gross domestic product and the manufacturing sector.

Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. said Sunday it plans to go public on the New York Stock Exchange through a takeover of its Amsterdam-listed affiliate investment fund KKR Private Equity Investors LP.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.14 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.44 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.13 percent, and France's CAC-40 declined 1.08 percent.

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[Associated Press; By TIM PARADIS]

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