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Stocks expected to open higherBy The Associated Press, 2/20/2004 NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks were set to open higher Friday, despite a selloff late Thursday. Strength from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. were unable to stop the Dow Jones industrial average from falling 7.26 points, or 0.07 percent, to 10,664.73. Earlier in the day, the index had been up as much as 81.64 points and reached a 32-month high. The Nasdaq composite index closed down 30.51 points, or 1.47 percent, to 2,045.96. The index now has been down four of the last five sessions. The Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 4.76, or 0.41 percent, to 1147.06. The Labor Department was slated to release the consumer price index report at 8:30 a.m. EST. Economists were looking for 0.3 percent uptick in the index. Dow Jones futures were up 17 points, to 10,680. Nasdaq futures rose 2 points, and S&P futures were 2.6 points higher. Tokyo's key stock index edged down Friday as investors took profits in newly listed Shinsei Bank and other blue chips following gains in the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up against the Japanese yen. The Nikkei stock average of 225 issues closed down 33.11 points, or 0.31 percent, at 10,720.69 points. On Thursday, the index gained 76.99 points, or 0.72 percent. The dollar was trading at 107.91 yen by late afternoon Friday, up 1.18 yen from late Thursday in Tokyo and above the 107.12 yen it bought in New York. In London, the FTSE 100 Index rose 25 points recently, to 4,540.6; however, the Paris CAC and Xetra Dax each were trading lower on a wave of profit-taking. Markets seem to be taking a bit of a breather after a busy earnings week, analysts said. Banking stocks gave up some ground following Alliance & Leicester PLC's fiscal-year report, which reflected an 11.5 percent increase in profit on lowered costs and an increase in consumer loans and mortgages. Transportation stocks were higher as Go-Ahead Group PLC's first-half report beat expectations. In U.S. corporate news, Coca-Cola Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Douglas Daft, 60, plans to retire at the end of the year. The beverage giant will conduct a search for Daft's replacement, and Friday's editions of The Wall Street Journal said this may leave open the possibility that President Steven Heyer, 51, could be passed over for the job. The announcements comes as Coca-Cola faces slow growth in crucial markets and a federal investigation into alleged accounting fraud. Separately, the DJIA member approved a 14 percent increase in its quarterly dividend. Late Thursday, Hewlett-Packard reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of 30 cents a share, up from 24 cents from a year earlier. On a non-GAAP basis, the DJIA component earned 35 cents a share, in line with Street expectations. Its non-GAAP outlook of 34 cents for the second quarter and $1.43 for 2004 also were in line with estimates. Anheuser-Busch Cos. backed its 2004 earnings growth target of 12 percent, and Nordstrom Inc. upped fourth-quarter earnings to 74 cents from 44 cents a year ago. Back to Original Article: News You Can Use
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