Stocks head for lower open amid earnings reports
NEW YORK -- Wall Street tipped toward a slightly lower opening Monday as investors remained skittish about upcoming quarterly earnings reports, and weighed news that major U.S. banks will set up a fund to help bail out the credit markets.
Investors receive third-quarter reports this week from more than 80 members of the Standard & Poor's 500 index. Posting results Monday are Citigroup Inc., Mattel Inc., Charles Schwab Corp. and Genentech Inc.
Citigroup, the nation's biggest financial institution, reported before the bell that third-quarter results fell 57 percent because of investments in mortgage-backed securities. On Monday, the bank Ȣ₈¬Ã¢â‚¬ˆť along with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. Ȣ₈¬Ã¢â‚¬ˆť announced the creation of a fund used to help revive the asset-backed commercial paper market.
The fund will buy assets from structured investment vehicles, also known as SIVs, which buy corporate bonds and subprime mortgage debt. The bailout was orchestrated by the Treasury Department to avoid a fire sale in the market.
Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 4, or 0.03 percent, to 14,175. S&P index futures dipped 2.10, or 0.13 percent, to 1,572.50. Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 2.00, or 0.09 percent, to 2,197.25.
Last week, the Dow was up 0.19 percent, the S&P 500 rose 0.27 percent and the Nasdaq gained 0.91 percent.
Energy companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips could move higher on Monday as oil prices continued to move higher. Worries that supplies are insufficient for coming winter demand pushed light, sweet crude up $1.05 cents to $84.74 a barrel in electronic trading before the opening on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
There also won't be much in the way of economic data. The New York Empire State Index Ȣ₈¬Ã¢â‚¬ˆť a regional economic indicator published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Ȣ₈¬Ã¢â‚¬ˆť came in better than expected for October. The index rose to 28.75 from September's 14.70.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will deliver a speech at the University of Texas during the session. Meanwhile, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is set to speak before the Economics Club of New York Monday night.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 0.16 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.07 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.22 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.18 percent.