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Stocks to Open Mixed on Earnings News

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 July 2004, 06:00 CDT

NEW YORK - U.S. stock futures were mixed early Tuesday as investors watch earnings news looking for a clear trend. Dow Jones futures fell 8 points recently, Nasdaq futures rose 1 point, and Standard & Poor's futures were up 0.10 points.

In London, the FTSE 100 Index edged up 2.8 points to 4362.8. Trading was cautious after the U.K. consumer price index data for June came in at 0.1 percent, slightly shy of forecasts.

In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average ended up 26.34 points, or 0.2 percent, at 11608.62, helped by buying of carmakers, banks and marine transportation stocks.

In U.S. corporate news, Morgan Stanley averted a potentially embarrassing sex-discrimination trial at the last minute, agreeing to pay $54 million to settle claims from dozens of women who accused the firm of systematically denying them promotions and pay increases.

Late Monday, LSI Logic Corp. reaffirmed its second-quarter earnings guidance, but lowered its revenue outlook because of softer-than-anticipated demand for semiconductors in storage components and videogame console markets.

Fair Isaac Corp. announced lower-than-expected preliminary third-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, and lowered its fourth-quarter outlook.

Compuware Corp. reported preliminary first-quarter results that were below Wall Street's expectations.

Topping the list of big earning set for release Tuesday is Intel Corp., expected to report second-quarter earnings of 27 cents a share after the market closes.

Before the bell, Johnson & Johnson is expected to report second-quarter earnings of 79 cents a share and Merrill Lynch & Co. is expected to report second-quarter earnings of $1.09 a share.

Commerce Bancorp, State Street Corp. and Yum! Brands Inc. are expected to report earnings Tuesday.

The Commerce Department is scheduled to release May trade deficit data at 8:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday. Economists look for a widening to a new record for the foreign trade deficit to $49 billion in May.

Stocks ended mixed, with International Business Machines Corp. assisting the Dow Jones Industrial Average, while falls by a raft of semiconductor-related stocks, including Applied Materials Inc. and Microchip Technology Inc., kept the Nasdaq Composite Index down.

The Dow industrial average gained 25 points, or 0.24 percent, to 10238.22, the Nasdaq lost 9.41, or 0.48 percent, to 1936.92 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.54, or 0.14 percent, to 1114.35.

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