Impact on oil prices, economy likely to be negative factor at Wednesday's open.
September 15, 2004: 5:28 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The approach of Hurricane Ivan, with its impact on oil and the economy, is likely to send stocks lower at Wednesday's open.
Early Wednesday, Nasdaq and S&P futures eased.
The storm, with winds of 140 miles per hour, is expected to hit land along the Gulf Coast between southeast Louisiana and western Florida. It has forced the evacuation of areas along the coast, including New Orleans, as well as oil rigs in the Gulf that have curtailed production until the storm passes.
Early estimates for potential damage are as high as $10 billion, which would make Ivan the second most costly storm in U.S. history.
The storm, concerns about supplies from Russia and Iraq, and OPEC meeting in Austria to consider production quotas and price targets, contributed to a further bump up in oil prices. U.S. crude futures rose 9 cents to $44.48 a barrel in electronic trading, while Brent oil futures gained 9 cents to $41.82 a barrel in London.
Oracle, the business software maker, said sales in the current quarter could be hampered by a strong dollar and economic concerns caused by the election and oil prices. But the company did exceed earnings estimates and match sales projections for the quarter ended in August.
Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, Oracle (ORCL: Research, Estimates) rose 4 percent.
Among the economic reports due Wednesday is industrial production for August, released minutes before the market open. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect a 0.5 percent rise, up from 0.4 percent in July, with capacity utilization increasing to 77.4 percent from 77.1 percent.
The markets managed small gains Tuesday as tech issues paced the advance. The Nasdaq composite index was up 5 points, while the Dow Jones industrial average nudged up 3.40 (see chart for details).
Asian-Pacific stocks ended mixed, with Tokyo's Nikkei index down 1.2 percent on weakness in tech issues. European markets gained in early trading. (Check the latest on world markets)
Treasury prices fell in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield up to 4.13 percent from 4.12 percent late Tuesday. The dollar weakened against the yen, but was higher versus the euro. Gold was lower.
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