Wall Street heads for lower open amid recession fears, earnings
NEW YORK -- Stocks were poised to open lower Friday in what would be the fourth loss in five sessions as investors awaited any clues about the economy's direction.
Concerns about a recession were likely to again influence trading after Wall Street managed to rise Thursday for the first time this week. San Francisco Federal Reserve President Janet Yellen said Thursday that the possibility of such a contraction can't be ruled out, and other central bank officials are scheduled to speak Friday.
Investors are also waiting for more economic data. U.S. wholesale trade inventories due at 10 a.m. EST might show distributors in December limited their stockpiles amid weak retail sales.
Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 78, or 0.61 percent, to 12,200. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 10.70, or 0.80 percent, to 1,329.50, and Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 12.75, or 0.72 percent, to 1,754.25.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rebounded.
Light, sweet crude oil rose 55 cents to $88.66 a barrel in premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In corporate news, McAfee Inc. was expected to move higher after the software maker reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit late Thursday.
Alcatel-Lucent was expected to rise after the telecom equipment maker reported higher fourth-quarter revenue than forecast. However, it warned of a first-quarter operating loss and suspended its dividend.
Weyerhaeuser Co. swung to a fourth-quarter loss as the deteriorating U.S. housing market cut into demand for lumber -- a downturn the paper and wood products company expects will continue through 2008. Earnings are expected later in the session from Chevron Corp. and Beckman Coulter Inc.
Bond insurer MBIA Inc., which has been trying to raise capital to maintain its crucial "AAA" financial strength rating, said late Thursday it has boosted the size of a public stock offering to $1 billion from the $750 million it announced one day earlier.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei average closed down 1.44 percent. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.10 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.17 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.16 percent.