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Investors Await Quarterly Profit Data

Posted on: Monday, 26 January 2004, 06:00 CST

Stocks are set to open lower Monday as investors are cautious ahead of the latest round of fourth-quarter profit reports and Wednesday's Federal Reserve meeting.

Dow Jones futures declined 13 points recently, to 10,538. Nasdaq futures fell 3 points, and S&P futures were a point lower.

In London, the FTSE 100 Index dropped 16.7 points recently, to 4,444.1, after being up earlier Monday. European stocks also were trading lower, with the talk in France concerning a potential deal between two drug makers.

In European corporate news, Aventis SA rejected Sanofi-Synthelabo SA's $60.1 billion takeover bid; an agreement between the companies would've formed the third-biggest company in the drug-making industry. Sanofi offered five of its shares and 69 euros in cash for every six shares of Aventis, Based on Friday's closing prices, the unsolicited offer is worth 59.63 euros a share, 3.6 percent more than Aventis' Friday close of 57.55 euros.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 0.9 percent, or 96.41 points, to close at 10,972.60. Concerns about bird flu in Asia sent stocks downward, as did a local report on regulators' inspection of UFJ Holdings Inc.'s loans, which raised concerns about the banking sector and their major borrowers.

In U.S. corporate news, a long-term plan to focus on design and assembly instead of parts production may mean the future sale of Boeing Co. manufacturing plants in Tulsa, Okla., Kansas and Arkansas, according to Sunday's editions of the Seattle Times. As part of the proposal, Boeing would maintain its strong presence in Washington state, where the company used to have its headquarters, while decreasing it elsewhere.

Late Friday, Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceutica L.P. unit received a subpoena from the Office of Personnel Management's inspector general related to the company's anti-psychotic Risperdal. The company said it is cooperating in response to the subpoena.

The National Association of Realtors is due to release the existing home sales data on Monday.

American Express Co. is slated to report earnings during the day, while Schering-Plough Corp. is set to give its results before the market opens. Texas Instruments Inc. and McDonald's Corp. also are expected to report.

U.S. stocks ended Friday's session mixed, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling lower but Microsoft Corp. managing to help keep technology shares afloat. Microsoft is a member of the Dow, which dropped 54.89 points, or 0.52 percent, to 10,568.29, while the Nasdaq composite index added 4.86, or 0.23 percent, to 2,123.87, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 2.39, or 0.21 percent, to 1,141.55.

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