Stocks set for mixed open after Cisco earnings

[February 05, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street headed for a mixed open Thursday as troubling results from Cisco Systems Inc. weighed on technology stocks.

Cisco, the world's largest maker of computer networking equipment, posted a 27 percent drop in profit late Wednesday and said incoming orders dropped off sharply in January. When orders fall, it's not only bad for the company -- it's a worrisome signal about the economy.

Companies reporting quarterly results Thursday include Burger King, Kellogg Co. and MasterCard Inc. Wall Street will also be focusing on government data about fourth-quarter productivity and December factory orders. And the Labor Department will be releasing weekly jobless claims figures, a day before it issues its January employment report.

Investors have been sorting through companies' late-2008 earnings data as they wait for an economic stimulus plan to pass through the Senate. The bill keeps swelling -- most recently, a new tax break for homebuyers pushed the cost well above $900 billion.

Ahead of the market's open, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 6, or 0.08 percent, to 7,931. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 0.30, or 0.04 percent, to 829.50, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 15.25, or 1.26 percent, to 1,198.75.

The stock market Wednesday took a tumble after earnings from companies including two Dow components -- Kraft Foods Inc. and Walt Disney Co. -- disappointed investors.

Early Thursday, bond prices were narrowly mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, slipped to 2.92 percent from 2.94 percent late Wednesday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.30 percent from 0.28 percent.

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

Light, sweet crude rose 16 cents to $40.48 a barrel in premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.11 percent. In midday trading, Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.01 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.26 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.63 percent.

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On the Net:

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[Associated Press; By MADLEN READ]

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