Stocks wait on rates?

[notiCIas]

Stocks wait on rates?

Better economic outlook, rising rates have markets set for mixed open.

May 9, 2005: 6:50 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks were set to open mixed Monday following last week's strong jobs report that capped the best week of the year for equities.

U.S. stock futures were up in early trading, although Nasdaq futures were below fair value, indicating a lower open for that tech-heavy market. Standard & Poor's 500 futures indicated a higher start for the broader market.

Stocks ended a strong week with mixed results Friday, as the better economic outlook signaled in a strong increase in jobs created last month was tempered by rising interest rate concerns. The Dow posted its best weekly gain of 2005, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their best gains since late January.


Treasury prices were lower again early Monday, lifting the yield on the 10-year note to 4.27 percent from the 4.26 percent level late Friday. The dollar gained ground on the yen but lost ground on the yen.

The June light crude contract gained 12 cents to $51.08 a barrel in electronic trading, while the June contract for Brent crude rose 28 cents to $51.05.

Major markets in Asia closed mixed Monday. Major European markets were lower in early trading.

An economic report due Monday is the reading on March wholesale inventories. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast a 0.7 percent gain in that measure, compared with a 0.6 percent rise in February.

In corporate news, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday that online broker E*Trade Financial (Research) has sent a letter to rival Ameritrade Holding (Research) about a possible acquisition. Ameritrade's reaction is not yet known, according to the paper, which said an all-stock deal, if it occurred, could be worth $12 billion to $14 billion.

The Journal also reports that spurned MCI (Research) bidder Qwest Communications (Research) and its bankers are talking to large MCI shareholders and believes there could be enough opposition to vote down MCI's already accepted deal with Verizon Communications (Research) if there is a new alternate bid put forward by Qwest.