U.S. stocks head for flat open

By TIM PARADIS
AP Business Writer

Wall Street headed for a mostly flat open Thursday after a jump in Treasury yields the previous session unnerved investors and sent stocks tumbling. Bond yields ticked lower on Thursday.

Wednesday's pullback, which slashed more than 140 points from the Dow Jones industrial average, came ahead of the Conference Board's May index of leading economic indicators.

Also, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve is set to release its June index of regional manufacturing activity. Wall Street is expecting the report will show signs of a recovery in the U.S. industrial sector.

The number of workers seeking jobless benefits rose by 10,000 last week to a two-month high, marking the third straight weekly gain. While the increase wasn't immense, the movement could suggest workers were having a more difficult time finding work.

The data come in an otherwise quiet week for broad news about the economy and only a handful of quarterly results from companies. Corporate earnings reports will begin flowing in earnest in several weeks and Wall Street is accustomed to receiving profit warnings around this time. Investors are hoping a parade of strong earnings might continue and provide fodder for sending stocks higher.

Dow futures expiring in September fell 3, or 0.02 percent, to 13,605, while S&P 500 futures slipped 2.00, or 0.13 percent, to 1,525.00. Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 3.25, or 0.17 percent, to 1,944.50.

Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 5.14 percent from 5.15 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Light, sweet crude oil rose 50 cents to $69.36 per barrel in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as a general strike in Nigeria — Africa's largest crude oil producer — began to weigh on the market.

In corporate news, H&R Block Inc. swung to a fourth-quarter loss as continuing troubles in the company's mortgage lending arm outweighed higher revenue from the company's tax and financial-services businesses.

Pier 1 Imports Inc., the seller of furniture and home decorating goods, saw its first-quarter loss widen as sales fell and as profit margins shrank.

Ameron International Corp., a maker of engineered products for the chemical, energy and transportation markets, saw its second-quarter profit fall 16 percent from a year earlier, which benefited from a gain from a sale of property.

Andersons Inc., an ethanol and grain producer, late Wednesday raised its full-year profit forecast after a strong second-quarter performance from its agricultural businesses. The company also began producing ethanol from a second plant and has seen better-than-expected margins.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 0.16 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.99 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.70 percent, and France's CAC-40 lost 1.04 percent. [via]