Stocks point to lower open ahead of spending data

[March 27, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street was set to pare its huge gains Friday as investors treaded cautiously ahead of personal spending data.

A day after stocks rallied on solid earnings at consumer brands such as Best Buy, investors remain focused on average Americans' spending power. The Commerce Department is expected to report Friday that personal consumption rose modestly in February.

Signals out of the corporate world, meanwhile, were downbeat. Late Thursday, Internet powerhouse Google Inc. said it is laying off nearly 200 workers, while technology consulting and outsourcing firm Accenture lowered its outlook for the quarter and the year.

The pair of negative announcements sapped strength from technology stocks, which surged Friday and pushed the Nasdaq composite index into positive territory for the year.

Ahead of the market's open, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 65, or 0.8 percent, to 7,784. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 6.80, or 0.8 percent, to 820.50, and Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 9.50, or 0.8 percent, to 1,263.50.

The Dow has risen 21 percent since hitting a nearly 12-year low March 9.

Investors are also awaiting quarterly earnings results from homebuilder KB Home, and the University of Michigan's final reading on March consumer sentiment.

And President Barack Obama will be meeting at the White House with chief executives of the nation's largest banks. Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are preparing to launch a partnership with private investors to buy banks' toxic assets.

The discussion also comes as Congress works on a bill to curb Wall Street bonuses, and Geithner plans to regulate the hedge fund industry more heavily.

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

Crude oil fell 91 cents to $53.43 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.11 percent. In midday trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.36 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.13 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.33 percent.

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On the Net:

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

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[Associated Press; By MADLEN READ]

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