Investors digest Bush speech, await housing starts and more big-name earnings.
January 21, 2004: 5:57 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - After watching President Bush's State of the Union speech, U.S. investors will focus again on the economy and corporate earnings when the stock markets open Wednesday.
At 5:30 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a mixed start for the major indexes.
Among many themes sounded by Bush in his speech Tuesday night was what he sees as a growing economy, saying the nation must take steps to make a recovery last.
"We must respond by helping more Americans gain the skills to find good jobs in our new economy," the president said. Among his proposals were making permanent the tax cuts enacted by Congress last year and a community college-centered job training program.
Democrats, seeking to unseat the Republican incumbent later this year, took Bush to task, with Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., saying in the party's response that the tax cuts have led to a job "exodus" instead of job creation.
One measure of the economy is housing, with the government issuing its December report on housing starts before the start of trading. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect the annual rate to have declined to 1.95 million from 2.07 million in November.
The parade of corporate earnings continues in earnest before the start of trading, led by Dow component J.P. Morgan Chase. The financial services company, which last week announced the proposed $58 billion acquisition of Bank One, is expected to post fourth-quarter income of 77 cents a share, compared with a loss of 7 cents a year earlier.
Other earnings due before the bell include brokerage Merrill Lynch (MER: Research, Estimates), telecom gear maker Lucent Technologies (LU: Research, Estimates) and mortgage originator Fannie Mae (FNM: Research, Estimates).
Tech stocks could take a little hit early Wednesday after Motorola (MOT: Research, Estimates) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit but weaker-than-expected wireless sales.
For details of Tuesday's mixed session, click above
Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, Motorola was down more than 1 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average started the holiday-shortened week Tuesday with a 0.7 percent decline as stocks that had run up in anticipation of positive earnings sold off when the numbers came out. The Nasdaq composite index was 0.4 percent higher (see chart for details).
Asian-Pacific stocks ended mixed Wednesday, with Tokyo's Nikkei index down 0.9 percent. European stocks showed modest gains in early trading. (Check the latest on world markets)
Treasury prices were little changed, with the 10-year note yield at 4.05 percent. The dollar lost ground against the euro and yen.
Brent oil futures pulled back 11 cents to $31.12 a barrel in London, where gold gained in early trading.
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