Stock futures weak ahead of Fed minutes (Sitzungsprotokoll der FED-Sitzung)Tue May 24, 2005 7:14 AM ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures were lower on Tuesday as investors waited for the minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting to be released at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT). Genentech Inc. (DNA.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the No. 2 U.S. biotechnology company, rose nearly 4 percent to $79.49 in after-hours trading on Monday after saying its experimental drug Lucentis, used to treat the leading cause of blindness in older adults, was shown to significantly improve vision in an ongoing late-stage trial. But rival Eyetech Pharmaceuticals Inc. (EYET.O: Quote, Profile, Research) fell 27 percent after the bell to $17.48 Oil could drag on stocks. The price of crude edged back toward $50, increasing concerns about crimped corporate profit margins and consumer spending. U.S. light sweet crude for July delivery rose 14 cents to $49.30 a barrel, extending Monday's 51 cent gain and moving further above the three-month low of $46.20 touched last week.. S&P 500 futures were down 2.7 points, trading below fair value, Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 26 points, while Nasdaq 100 futures were down 3.5 points. "There's some profit taking," said Will Armitage, senior quoting dealer at spread betting firm IG Index, who said that after the recent rally "It's unsurprising that people want to take some money off the table." U.S. stocks picked up last week's momentum on Monday, with the oil and software sectors up on brokerage upgrades and the Nasdaq posting its seventh day of gains -- its longest rally in six months. The Dow closed at its highest level since early April. "There is caution ahead of the FOMC minutes," Armitage added, saying he thought the "Fed will not try and do anything too untoward." Investors will scrutinize the Federal Reserve's minutes of its May 3 meeting looking for further monetary tightening. Weakness in European markets also dampened U.S. trading, Armitage said. European shares dipped on Tuesday, partly hurt by weak investor confidence data in Germany. Among the handful of companies due to report on Tuesday are medical device maker Medtronic Inc. (MDT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), technology services company Computer Sciences Corp (CSC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and data storage equipment maker Network Appliance Corp. (NTAP.O: Quote, Profile, Research). Stocks showing weakness included JDS Uniphase Corp. (JDU.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) (JDSU.O: Quote, Profile, Research), down 0.6 percent to $1.56 after the bell, when the company said it will buy privately held Acterna Inc. for $760 million in cash and stock. Guidant Corp. (GDT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) could be under pressure after the New York Times reported that it failed to inform doctors or patients for three years that one of its defibrillators had a defect. On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 51.65 points, or 0.49 percent, at 10,523.56, its highest level since April 7. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.58 points, or 0.39 percent, at 1,193.86. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was up 10.23 points, or 0.50 percent, at 2,056.65. Quelle: http://today.reuters.com/news/...DST_0_BUSINESS-MARKETS-STOCKS-DC.XML
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