By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
ECB's Nowotny: Don't get 'overexcited' about Thursday
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures fell slightly
Wednesday, turning lower after downbeat comments from a European
Central Bank council member, with investors looking ahead to
housing data.
Also ahead are quarterly results from health insurance
heavyweight UnitedHealth Group Inc.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJH5) fell 30
points, or 0.2%, to 17,431, and those for the S&P 500 index
(SPH5) slipped 1 point to 2,015.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100
(NDH5) lost 5.5 points, or 0.1%, to 4,161.50.
The small dips tracked a fall in European equities , which came
after Ewald Nowotny said people "should not get overexcited" about
Thursday's meeting of the ECB, where he is a member of the
governing council. Investors are anticipating that the central bank
will outline a plan for sovereign bond-buying at the event, in an
effort to boost inflation levels. But policy makers and central
bankers should be centered on longer-term views, Nowotny said.
Worries about lower inflation and slowing global growth dogged
U.S. stocks on Tuesday. Stocks ended that chopping trading session
with only minor gains, leaving the S&P 500 (SPX) and the Dow
Jones Industrial Average (DJI) each up about 3 points. The Nasdaq
Composite (RIXF) climbed 20 points, or 0.4%, driven largely by
Apple Inc. (AAPL).
The U.S. corporate earnings season will continue to roll on
Wednesday with UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) expected to report a
rise in fourth-quarter earnings to $1.50 a share. Markets showed
little reaction to President Barack Obama's State of the Union
address.
In State of the Union, Obama makes middle-class pitch
At 8:30 a.m., housing starts for December will be released by
the Commerce Department, and analysts polled by FactSet are looking
for an increase to 1.04 million from 1.03 million in the previous
month.
Stocks to watch: Microsoft Corp.(MSFT) will unveil its next
version of Windows, slated to launch later this year.
BHP Billiton Ltd.(BHP) flagged a sharp reduction in U.S.
drilling activity, as well as up to $250 million in write-downs on
its petroleum business.
Other markets: In Asia, Chinese stocks surged nearly 5%, but
Japan's Nikkei Average slipped. Oil futures (CLH5) were up 1% and
gold futures (GCF5) rose more than $6 an ounce, after touching
$1,300-an-ounce previously.
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