In Anticipation of More earnings (22-04-2008)

The weak quarterly results weighed on Wall Street stocks on Monday, and both the Dow and the S&P closed lower, with the banking sector reversing Friday’s gains achieved on optimism from Citigroup’s results. The NASDAQ was an exception, as it managed to gain after Apple Inc. earnings estimate was raised. 

Asian stock markets retreated, as the yen rose, hurting exporters in Japan, where banks also gave up gains, retreating substantially from the previous session. Meanwhile, energy shares rose in tandem with a fresh record for oil which breached the $118 level touching $118.05 on concern that a labor dispute in the U.K. and disruptions in Nigeria may limit oil supply. 

European stock markets and London in particular, had the additional losses of RBS to deal with, and stocks were falling by midday as the bank launched the biggest rights issue ever, while in Germany, the BdB banking association took control of German property lender Duesseldorfer Hypothekenbank In afternoon trading stocks were trading in a narrow range, in and out of negative territory as energy sensitive stocks offset banking stocks.

Futures in the U.S. for Tuesday’s trading were showing a flat for the Dow and a lower open for the NASDAQ, as signals from corporate earnings were mixed, with investors reacting to a bleak outlook from Texas Instruments and awaited earnings from three Dow components.

Source ISFM