Business

US Stocks Head for Largely Flat Open
by Zuzana Krskova

Following a steep slide last week, U.S. stocks headed for a largely flat open Monday. Wall Street was trying to find out any insights that could figure how consumers are faring amid an economic slowdown. This week's reports could reveal the extend, to which concerns about rising prices, continued weakness in the housing market and an economic slowdown might be denting consumer spending. Wall Street, a barometer of the economy, is impatient to find out, how well consumers are holding up as consumer spending comprises more than two- thirds of U.S. economic activity. Corporate dealmaking came into a focus over the weekend. 44.6 USD takeover offer from Microsoft Corp. has been rejected by Yahoo Inc. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 2.70, or 0.20 percent, to 1,333.00, and the Nasdaq composite index futures rose 2.50, or 0.14 percent to 1,779.00. Last week, Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 4.60 percent, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 4.50 percent. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 22, or 0.18 percent, to 12,199. Last week, the Dow fell 4.40 percent. It is 14 percent below its Oct. 9 record close of 14,164.53, but about 4.7 percent above 15- month lows it hit in January. Bond prices rose to 3.66 percent from 3.65 percent late Friday. Light, sweet crude oil fell 2 cents to 91.75 USD per barrel. While the gold prices rose, was the dollar mixed against other major currencies. Japan's Nikkei stock average was closed for a holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished down 3.64 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.51 percent. Germany's DAX index slid 0.02 percent, and France's CAC- 40 fell 0.17 percent.

by Zuzana Krskova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

posted by Blog TechSource @ 2:24 PM