Tue, November 23, 2010
Fighting between North Korea and South Korea and ongoing worries about European debt point to a lower opening for stocks on Tuesday.
South Korea reported that North Korea had fired artillery shells onto one of its islands. South Korea says it returned the North Korean fire.
Investors remain uneasy about Europe's debt crisis after Ireland accepted a massive bailout. The concern now is that Portugal and Spain may be the next countries to need help. The cost of borrowing for both countries rose, leading Spain to trim the size of a debt sale.
Stock futures barely budged after the Commerce Department reported its revised estimate of how much the U.S. economy grew from July through September. The government said gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 2.5 percent, up from a 2 percent estimate last month.
With the trading week shortened by the Thanksgiving holiday, investors have to digest roughly five days of economic data squeezed into three days.
Later Tuesday morning, the National Association of Realtors will release its monthly look at sales of previously owned houses. Wall Street economists expect sales will rise to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.5 million units in October. If true, it would mark the third straight month of rising sales.
Dow Jones industrial average futures are down 102, or 0.9 percent, at 11,064. Standard & Poor's 500 futures are down 13, or 1.1 percent, at 1,184. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 20, or 0.9 percent, to 2,134.
Most overseas markets headed lower in Tuesday trading. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 2.6 percent to 22,896 and China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.9 percent to 2,828.28.
All the turmoil overseas is giving Treasury prices a lift as investors seek safety in U.S. government bonds. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 2.74 percent, down from 2.80 percent late Monday. Bond yields fall when prices rise.
U.S. stock ended mixed on Monday. The Dow Jones industrials fell 0.2 percent to 11,179, but the Nasdaq composite index rose 0.6 percent to 2,532.
(Agencies)
