PARIS, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Dow Futures pointed
to a higher open on Wall Street on Friday, with December futures
for the S&P 500 (SNP: ^GSPC – news) up 0.21 percent, for the Dow Jones (DJI: ^DJI – news)
up 0.33 percent and for the Nasdaq 100 (Nasdaq: ^NDX – news) up 0.21 percent at
0930 GMT.
* European shares and the euro clawed back up on Friday and
oil also rebounded from a 1-1/2 month low, as investors moved
back into markets still feeling the benefits of support measures
from central banks.
* The Euro STOXX 50 volatility index, Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURUSD – news) ‘s
equivalent of the VIX, tumbled 5 percent to a 6-month low
on Friday morning, signalling a sharp drop in investor risk
aversion as tensions surrounding the euro zone debt crisis
continue to ease.
* Apple Inc (NasdaqGS: AAPL – news) will be in the spotlight as the
company’s iPhone 5 hit stores around the globe on Friday, giving
the consumer giant a boost ahead of the crucial end-of-year
holiday season as rival Samsung Electronics Co
stepped up its legal challenge over key technologies.
* Apple’s iPhone 5 uses chips from Qualcomm Inc,
Avago Technologies Ltd and Skyworks Solutions Inc (NasdaqGS: SWKS – news)
, according to repair firm iFixit, which pried one open.
* Oracle Corp’s hardware sales are expected to drop
further after tumbling 24 percent from a year ago, the software
maker said, as it strives to turn around its Sun computer
division amid tight technology budgets.
* James Murdoch will be given more responsibility over News
Corp’s U.S. television operations more than a year
after he became a central figure in the company’s telephone
hacking scandal in the UK, two sources familiar with the matter
said.
* Japan (EUREX: FMJP.EX – news) ‘s All Nippon Airways (Munich: 861920 – news) said on Friday it
would buy 11 Boeing (NYSE: BA – news) 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft for about
254.7 billion yen ($ 3.3 billion).
* Sharp Corp’s stock jumped on Friday after a local
media report said the cash-strapped Japanese display maker was
in talks to make U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp (NasdaqGS: INTC – news) its biggest
shareholder.
* The Canadian Auto Workers union said on Thursday it
reached a tentative four-year contract with General Motors Co
, after a day of fighting words from union leader Ken
Lewenza and hours of grueling negotiations.
* Halliburton Co (NYSE: HAL – news) , the world’s second-largest
oilfield services company, on Thursday promoted Jeff Miller to
the new position of chief operating officer, a move likely to
revive speculation about its succession plans.
* Wal-Mart Stores Inc is looking to open its first
retail outlets in India within 12 to 18 months, Scott Price,
president and CEO for Asia, said in an interview with the Wall
Street Journal.
* Nike rival Adidas (EUREX: 59053.EX – news) slashed its 2015
sales target for its struggling Reebok brand to 2 billion euros
($ 2.6 billion) from 3 billion euros after losing a major
American football contract and fraud was discovered at its
Indian operation.
* Insurance (Euronext: SIN.NX – news) broker Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc
said its 65-year-old Chief Executive Brian Duperreault will
retire at the end of the year and Chief Operating Officer Daniel
Glaser will take over as the CEO.
* Michael Kors Holdings Ltd said it will likely
earn more than it earlier expected in the second quarter as the
fashion and accessory designer banks on strong global sales.
* The U.S. central bank would be courting disaster if it
pursued a so-called nominal growth target that did not take into
account the economic damage done by the housing crisis, a senior
Federal Reserve official warned on Thursday.
* World trade will grow by a mere 2.5 percent this year,
dragged down by Europe to less than half of the previous 20-year
average, the World Trade Organization said on Friday.
* PIMCO’S Bill Gross, who runs the world’s largest bond
fund, said on Thursday that he does not see the Federal Reserve
pulling back from its quantitative easing policies until the
U.S. unemployment rate at least drops to 6 percent.
* Institutional investors poured money into equity funds in
the week ended Sept. 19 as the Federal Reserve launched another
stimulus round, but retail investors stayed away from stocks,
data from Thomson Reuters Lipper service showed on Thursday.
* The Dow industrials ended slightly higher on Thursday
while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq cut most of the day’s losses in
a sign that investor sentiment remains generally positive
despite several weak manufacturing surveys from around the
world.
* The Dow Jones industrial average rose 18.97 points,
or 0.14 percent, to close at 13,596.93. The Standard & Poor’s
500 Index dipped 0.79 of a point, or 0.05 percent, to
1,460.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 6.66 points,
or 0.21 percent, to close at 3,175.96.
