New York, December 27th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures were pointing to a lower open amid mixed overseas performance, as investors returned from the long Christmas Weekend. Participants are still hoping for the Santa Claus Rally to materialize, and help stocks extend last week’s jump, which came on the back of mostly encouraging U.S. economic data.
higher open, with Wall Street hoping to extend the rally for the fourth consecutive session. Encouraging economic data in the U.S. has helped participants to shift focus away from the euro zone debt crisis woes. further data will be available later in the morning, which will help set the tone for the session.
In Asia, stock fell in thin holiday trading volume, waiting for the U.S. market to return from the long holiday weekend. in Japan, the Nikkei 0.5%, as participants were looking for additional U.S. data, which could confirm that the recovery in the world’s largest economy is gathering steam. And in China, the Shanghai Composite fell more than 1%, posting a fresh 33-month low.
In Europe, equity markets were moving to the upside, extending their recent rally in a thinly traded session following Christmas weekend. Improved economic data in the U.S. last week helped shift the focus away from concern over the euro zone’s debt woes. Technology, healthcare, and utilities were among the most sought out sectors so far in the trading session.
The euro was slightly higher against the Dollar, trading below the $1.31 level. Crude oil was practically flat at $99.69 per barrel. Gold was falling 0.4% to $1599.60 an ounce, and silver was dropping 0.41% to $28.965 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper was losing 1.1%.
On economic news, at 9 am, the S&P Case-Shiller 20- City Housing Price Index will be released. And at 10 am, the December Consumer Confidence reading will be available.
Today’s Stocks to watch: Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM), Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM), Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD), and VMware (NYSE:VMW).
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, was adding 0.16% to $403.75 in pre-market, extending its 1.9% gain from last week and its breakout above calculated resistance at $396.41. Last week, Apple scored a limited victory against HTC, the Taiwanese smartphone maker after a U.S. trade agency ruled in favor of the tech giant and ordered a ban of certain HTC’s devices that infringe an Apple patent. also last week a report from research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech showed that the iPhone was struggling to gain share in Europe, however it confirmed strong sales of the iPhone 4S in Britain and the U.S., ahead of the holidays. According to the report, Apple’s market share in the 12 weeks to end-November jumped to 36% in the United States from 25% a year earlier and in Britain to 31% from 21%. Analysts have been warming up to the stock again, with Susquehanna reiterating its Positive rating for Apple, saying that strong holiday sales of the company’s iPad tablets as well as new product launches such as the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 will be significant positive catalysts to the stock, while Barclays said that a potential dividend, the release of the iPad 3, the iPhone 5, and a possible Apple TV could be the key catalysts for the stock in 2012. Earlier in the month, Bank of America Merrill named Apple into its best stocks for 2012, while Fortune Magazine also included Apple in its best stocks to own for 2012 list.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), the largest U.S. lender, was falling 0.71% to $5.56, giving back some if 7.7% gain from last week, which came after rebounding sharply from a new multiyear low of $4.92 on Monday. BofA was able to stage the rebound following strong housing starts, improved German business confidence, a successful ECB 3-year loan auction that will strongly increase liquidity on European banks, and after the Fed released new rules for banks with more than $50 billion in assets, required by the Dodd-Frank financial oversight law. the rules are to be implemented in 2 phases and will not be more onerous than proposed international capital standards of Basel III, which most large U.S. banks already comply. the company also settled a Department of Justice probe on its Countrywide unit, by agreeing to pay $335 million to resolve allegations that the unit engaged in discriminatory lending practices before Bank of America purchased it. this morning however a report from Reuters speculating on the need for the Charlotte, NC based bank to continue with its asset sales to shore up capital weighed on sentiment early on. Additional housing and consumer confidence data will likely impact trading on the stock with an outsize exposure to the housing market and the U.S. consumer.
Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM), the producer and marketer of shell eggs, will be in focus after reporting quarterly results that were better than expected and announcing a second quarter dividend of $0.325 per share. Cal-Maine said that it earned $0.97 per share, $0.27 better than consensus, on revenues that jumped 23.8% to $290.14 million.
Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer, will be in focus amid lower copper prices. the stock gained 3.6% last week, helped by a pullback in the Dollar and improved economic data in the world’s second user of the industrial base metal. Housing related news will likely impact trade. During the weekend, strikers in Indonesia were scheduled to return to work to the world’s second largest copper mine, which had its production crippled by the three-month strike, forcing Freeport’s Indonesia unit to issue force majeure. the stock has calculated support at $35.65 and resistance at $41.22.
MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM), the hospitality and gaming Company owner of properties like the Bellagio and MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV, was gaining 0.90% to $10.05 in pre-market. Casino stocks might see some reaction during the session after the Department of Justice reversed on previous policy that included civil and criminal charges against operators of some of the most popular online poker sites. the decision which was made public last Friday clears the way for individual states to legalize online Poker and other online betting that can help them generate billions in tax revenue and spur web-based gambling. MGM has calculated resistance at $10.57 and support at $8.95.
Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD), the holding company that owns and operates the Sears and Kmart retail chains, will be in focus in the session after providing a quarterly update and announcing that it will close 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears stores. the company expect these store closures to generate $140 to $170 million of cash as the net inventory in these stores is sold and expect to generate additional cash proceeds from the sale or sublease of the related real estate. Sears said that quarterly comparable stores sales fell 5.2%, while yearly comparable store sales declined 2.6%. According to the data, Sears Domestic was seeing the sharpest declines, as the company was seeing a difficult economic environment for big-ticket items. the next quarterly earnings release is scheduled for February 23rd, 2012. Sears has calculated support at $43.99, its 52-week low.
VMware (NYSE:VMW), the provider of virtualization software solutions, was gaining 0.62% to $84.19 in pre-market, extending its Friday’s 3% rally. the stock was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer, with the firm citing valuation, fundamentals, and strong trends. Oppenheimer set its target price to $100, as it said that the company is exposed to strong secular growth drivers and is focused on high growth markets. Last Week, Wunderlich upgraded VMware to a Buy from Hold, saying that the 10% pullback on reaction to Oracle’s results was an overreaction, providing a compelling entry point for long-term investors.
