U.S. futures broadly higher as oil eases, report shows pick-up in chip equipment orders.
May 21, 2004: 7:16 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. futures indicated a positive start Friday for Wall Street as investors digested a dip in oil prices, a pick-up in chip equipment orders and strong results from some retailers.
For details of Thursday's stalemate, click above.
Early Friday, the Nasdaq-100 and the S&P futures were solidly higher.
Tech stocks traded higher overseas after North American semiconductor capital equipment makers saw orders rise 16 percent in April from March, as stronger sales of electronics boosted the spending plans of chip makers, according to Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International.
Orders for equipment reached $1.59 billion from $1.38 billion in March, and were up 111 percent from April 2003 orders, the industry group said Thursday, while shipments rose 10 percent to $1.40 billion from March's $1.27 billion level.
U.S. crude futures, with July now the active contract, were 22 cents lower at $40.58 a barrel ahead of a weekend meeting of OPEC cartel members in Amsterdam. Brent oil futures slipped 18 cents to $37.08 a barrel in London.
At the informal OPEC meeting, members were expected to consider a Saudi proposal to boost output quotas by 6 percent in an effort to ease the global oil crunch.
In other news, Federal Reserve Board governor Ben Bernanke tempered the market's aggressive interest rate outlook Thursday, saying that inflation was stable and the U.S. central bank was likely to adopt a gradual tightening of monetary policy.
"Oil and interest rates are the twin fears in this markets. We're seeing an ease in oil prices today. On interest rates, Bernanke indicated that gradualism is still key and that the Fed will move slower than expected," said Larry Wachtel, market analyst with Wachovia Securities. "Both these factors will likely result in a higher open today."
"However, given that the volume yesterday was almost at the lowest level of the year, caution prevails. I can promise a decent opening but it's still a bell to bell story," Wachtel added.
Apparel retailer Gap (GPS: Research, Estimates) late Thursday posted higher first-quarter earnings, extending a turnaround that took hold in fall 2002, citing leaner inventories and well-received new spring fashions.
The San Francisco-based retailer, which owns the Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy chains, earned 32 cents a share for the quarter, up from 22 cents a year earlier.
Upscale department store chain Nordstrom (JWN: Research, Estimates) said its quarterly earnings jumped a strong 153 percent to 48 cents a share from 20 cents a year earlier, solidly trouncing analysts' estimates of a 43 cents a share profit.
There wasn't much movement in stocks Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average was just a smidgen below unchanged, and the Nasdaq composite index slipped about a point and a half (see chart for details). For the week to date, the Dow is down more than 75 points, while the Nasdaq is 7.66 behind.
Asian-Pacific stocks ended higher, with Tokyo's Nikkei index up 2 percent. Major European markets rose in early trading. (Check the latest on world markets)
Treasury prices rose in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield down to 4.69 percent from 4.70 percent late Thursday. The dollar pulled back against the yen and euro.
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