Monday, April 25, 2011

US Stock Futures Rise On Earnings Optimism, Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) Eyed


US stock-index futures rose on Monday as investors continued to focus on earnings reports. 

At 8:32 am ET, the S&P 500 futures rose 1.90 points to 1,332.90. The Dow Jones Industrial average futures increased 27 points to 12,461. The Nasdaq Composite futures advanced 3.50 points to 2,379.

Shares of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) rose more than 2% in Monday's pre-market trading after the Wall Street Journal reported that several board members at the owner of most-visited U.S. Web portal are willing to consider offers or other ideas to improve the company.

International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) reported late Thursday that its fiscal second-quarter profit rose to $69.6 million, or 23 cents a share, from $25.7 million, or 8 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue climbed to $492.3 million from $486.8 million last year.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Monday, April 25, 2011. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of $1.08 per share on revenue of $703.60 million. In the year ago period, the company reported earnings of 59 cents per share on revenue of $493.66 million.

On the economic front, new home sales data will be released at 10:00 am ET. Economists expect new home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 280,000 units in March from a 250,000-unit rate in February.

European stocks were mixed in afternoon trade. At 13:38 pm London Time, the UK FTSE fell 3.96 points, or 0.07%, to 6,018.30. The German DAX and French CAC increased 0.64% and 0.43% respectively.

Asian stocks finished lower. The Nikkei 225 fell 10.25 points, or 0.11%, to 9,671.96. 

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