Ordering a selloff?

[notiCIas]

Ordering a selloff?

Weak results from Amazon hit stock futures; retail sales, other economic reports awaited.


February 3, 2005: 6:36 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Disappointing results from online retailing leader Amazon.com could take stocks lower in early trading Thursday, although investors will also get a chance to weigh economic and sales reports before the markets open.

U.S. stock futures were down in early trading, indicating a lower opening for stocks.

Tech-heavy Nasdaq futures are down more than the blue chips after Amazon (Research) reported much lower-than-forecast earnings in its fourth quarter despite solid sales. Shares of Amazon lost 15 percent in after-hours trading.


U.S. stocks will be trying to build on their best three-day rally of the young year, with the markets up Wednesday following the signal from the Federal Reserve that it intends to keep rates rising at a "measured" pace for at least the time being.

The nation's leading retail chains report their January sales early Thursday. Investors will also see the latest readings on factory orders, productivity and the strength of the nation's service sector, as well as the weekly report on jobless claims ahead of Friday's much anticipated January employment report.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that productivity in the fourth quarter rose 1.8 percent, the same as the third quarter increase.

Factory orders are forecast to be up 0.6 percent for December, down from the 1.2 percent gain in November.

The Institute of Supply Management's services index is forecast to slip to 61.0 from 63.9. That's still well above the 50.0 level that indicates growth at non-manufacturing companies.

The initial jobless claims are forecast to come in at 330,000, slightly above the 325,000 level of the previous week.

Possible deals could also affect trading. The Wall Street Journal reported that Qwest Communications (Research) is weighing a bid for MCI (Research) as a response to Monday's SBC (Research)-AT&T (Research) acquisition announcement. And Blockbuster Entertainment (Research) launched a hostile bid for smaller rival Hollywood Entertainment (Research) Wednesday evening in an effort to block its purchase by Movie Gallery (Research).

Major markets in Asia ended mixed Thursday, and major European markets were lower in early trading.

Oil prices were lower in early trading Thursday. The March light crude contract lost 34 cents to $46.35 a barrel in electronic trading, while Brent crude fell 22 cents to $43.79.

Bond prices edged lower, pushing the yield on the 10-year treasury to 4.15 percent from 4.14 percent late Thursday. The dollar edged higher against the yen and was little changed against the euro early Thursday.

In corporate news, General Electric (Research) announced it would stop seeking business in Iran, amid rising political tensions there and criticism for its past business there.

President Bush identified Iran as "the world's primary state sponsor of terror" during his State of the Union address Wednesday evening. Most of his speech focused on his domestic agenda, including proposals to change Social Security.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Boeing (Research) will seek a comprehensive settlement to federal probes into various alleged ethical abuses in its defense business, and that preliminary discussions have put the price of such a deal as high as $700 million.