Wall Street heads for lower opening

[February 09, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street appeared ready to give back some of last week's big gains on Monday, as some of the euphoria over the government's expected stimulus bill faded amid more grim corporate news.

The Senate is expected to pass an $827 billion stimulus bill on Tuesday. The government, however, still faces the challenge of reconciling the Senate bill with the House's $819 billion version that passed earlier. Republicans and Democrats have been at odds over the plan, which is designed to help pull the economy out of the worst recession in decades. President Barack Obama is still pressing to have the stimulus measure on his desk for signing by the middle of this month.

Investors are also anxiously awaiting a speech by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday outlining the Obama administration's plan to overhaul the government's $700 billion financial bailout package passed by Congress last fall. Geithner had been scheduled to announce the plan Monday, but the speech was pushed back so Washington could focus on the stimulus bill.

Amid the anticipation over the government's plans there were stark reminders that an economic recovery is still far off.

Nissan Motor Co. said it will slash 20,000 jobs, or 8.5 percent of its global work force, over the next year to cope with what the Japanese automaker expects will be its first annual loss in nine years.

Home appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. said fourth-quarter profit dropped 77 percent, hurt by a restructuring charge, a recall expense and the stronger dollar.

Meanwhile, Barclays PLC warned that further asset write-downs -- on top of the massive $11.9 billion booked for 2008 -- were likely and said executive directors would not be getting any bonuses. However, Britain's third-largest bank by assets said its 2008 net profit fell only 1 percent, boosted by last September's acquisition of part of failed investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Ahead of the market's open, the Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 56, or 0.68 percent, to 8,198. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 7.00, or 0.81 percent, to 860.70, while Nasdaq 100 index futures dropped 6.75, or 0.53 percent, to 1,269.

On Friday, the market largely overlooked a horrible jobs report and rallied in anticipation of the stimulus bill. The Labor Department said U.S. employers slashed 598,000 jobs in January, sending the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent, the highest since late 1992. The day's gains helped push Wall Street up sharply higher for the week.

The Dow Jones industrials ended the week up 3.5 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 rose 5.2 percent and the Nasdaq composite index posted a huge 7.8 percent gain.

Bond prices were mixed early Monday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, slipped to 2.98 percent from 2.99 percent late Friday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose slightly to 0.28 percent from 0.27 percent late Friday.

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

Light, sweet crude added 34 cents to $40.51 in electronic premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average dropped 1.33 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.84 percent. In late morning trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.90 percent, Germany's DAX index was down 0.40 percent, and France's CAC-40 was down 0.41 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 SARA LEPRO]

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