By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
Dec 29, 2005
A multi-billion dollar hotels deal, data on the housing sector and the
latest gyrations of the energy commodities market looked set to be the focus
of another low-volume session for U.S. stock markets on Thursday.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.2 points at 1,265.40 and Nasdaq 100 futures were up
1.0 points at 1,682.0.
On Wednesday, the Dow industrials rose 18.5 points at 10,796, the Nasdaq
Composite climbed 2 points at 2,228 and the S&P 500 rose 1.6 points at 1,258,
helped by a stabilized Treasury yield curve and a larger-than-forecast rise in
consumer confidence.
Crude oil futures were back below $60 a barrel after Wednesday's rise,
with front-month contracts recently down 20 cents at $59.64 a barrel. Concerns
that OPEC would cut production at its next meeting lifted the key futures
contract above $60 in the last session.
The U.S. dollar was steady against major rivals Thursday ahead of weekly
jobless claims and existing home sales data for November. The euro was at
$1.1833 from $1.1842 late Wednesday, while the dollar rose to 117.79 yen from
117.74 yen late Wednesday.
Overseas, Tokyo's Nikkei 225, London's FTSE 100 and Frankfurt's DAX 30 all
reached new multi-year highs.
Of companies in focus, Hilton Hotels Corp. may announce it's bought the
international hotels of Hilton Group for around $6 billion, The Wall Street
Journal and the Financial Times reported.
Both companies had previously confirmed those talks back in October, and a
deal may lead to further consolidation talk in the lodging industry, with
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide reportedly a suitor for InterContinental
Hotels.
Alkermes Inc. rose in the pre-open after the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration signaled initial approval for the company's and Cephalon's drug
to treat alcoholism.
Broker calls
Morgan Stanley raised its stock price target for Merck to $38 from $34 due
to the company's recent cost cutting moves and improved clarity on the outlook
for its new products. Analyst Jami Rubin also raised the 5-year compound
annual growth rate estimate to 3% from 0.6%, but that remained well below the
company's forecast of double-digit percentage growth.
This MarketWatch news update is provided to you courtesy of Thomson
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SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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