Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Market matters, Kohl’s Corp (KSS), Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF), Economic data, Nordstrom, Inc (JWN), Housing

U.S. stock futures were higher this morning, looking to extend their rally, although investors will likely not like the upcoming housing data, which probably isn’t going to signal a bottom for the housing recession.

U.S. stocks had a nice rally Thursday as oil prices fell, several deals were announced, mainly CBS buying CNet, and Icahn moving forward with his proxy fight for Yahoo’s board. The Dow industrials rose 94 points, or 0.73%, the S&P 500 added 14 points, or 1.06%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 37 points, or 1.48%. Thursday marked the fourth day of gains for the Nasdaq.

This morning, investors will be waiting for the housing data to roll in. Housing starts and building permits figures for April will be reported at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Both are expected to show further declines.
Also at 10:00 a.m. EDT, Might University of Michigan’s consumer confidence gauge for May is due. Economists expect it to decline marginally.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs helped lift oil prices this morning after it raised its forecast for oil to $141 a barrel. The forecast was raised 32% from $107 a barrel and is for the second half of 2008. Oil prices were back above $125 a barrel.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) will continue to be in the spot light after it responded late Thursday to Icahn’s nomination of board members. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is trying to gain control of the internet company’s board so it could resume takeover speaks with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). In response, Yahoo! stated it would fight Icahn’s attempts.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) is due to report quarterly results. Other retailers in focus this morning are Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) and Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN). Both reported after the close Thursday, posting double- digit declines in fiscal first-quarter net income and cut their earnings forecasts for the fiscal year.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 24th, 2008 at 9:13 pm and is filed under Real Estate and Housing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.