28-Dec-2011 - Stock Futures Ease

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By JONATHAN CHENG And TOMI KILGORE U.S. stock futures slipped, as weak markets overseas and a slowdown at Sears Holdings gave investors little incentive to extend last week's sharp gains. Less than 30 minutes before Tuesday's opening bell, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures eased 22 points, or 0.2%, to 12195. Standard & Poor's 500-stock index futures eased three points, or 0.3%, to 1257 and Nasdaq 100 futures inched up less than one point to 2279. The moves came after the S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 major U.S. cities showed a year-on-year decline of 3.4% in October, a touch more than expectations for a 3.2% decline. Prior to the home-price data, Dow futures nhl jerseys from china were off 19 points, S&P 500 futures lost three points and Nasdaq 100 futures edged up less than one point. Changes in stock futures don't always accurately predict stock moves after the opening bell. The moves kick off a holiday-shortened week that comes after a week that saw the Dow gain 3.6%, including a 124-point rally on Friday that sent the blue-chip index to a five-month high. European markets erased earlier marginal gains to lean slightly to the downside, with the Stoxx Europe 600 down 0.1%. The U.K. market is closed, and activity and news flow elsewhere remain light. Asian bourses finished broadly lower, with China's Shanghai Composite shedding 1.1% to close at its lowest level since March 2009. Gold futures fell back below 1,600 an ounce, while crude oil futures inched up to the cusp of 100 a barrel, trading recently at 99.91 a barrel. The U.S. dollar lost some ground against the euro and the yen. Also on the economic calendar is a reading on consumer confidence at 10 a.m., as well as Federal Reserve manufacturing reports for the Richmond and Dallas regions. In corporate nfl jersey supply news, Sears Holdings fell 16% premarket after the retailer said it would close 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears stores to reduce costs, and added it expects take fourth-quarter non-cash charges between 1.6 billion and 2.4 billion related to a valuation allowance and impairment on some goodwill balances. The company also said quarter-to-date same-store sales through Dec. 25 declined 5.2%. Mead Johnson Nutrition rallied 3.8% after the company said over the weekend that a new round of sample nfl jerseys supply testing of its Enfamil Premium Newborn formula didn't detect any presence of a potentially deadly bacteria. Cal-Maine Foods climbed 6.6% after the egg producer reported fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded expectations. Elsewhere, Parlux Fragrances soared 97% after the company said late Friday that it agreed to be acquired by Perfumania Holdings for about 170 million in cash and stock. Perfumania fell 14%.

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