The Market Story
Thursday's Market: Higher
By TSC Staff
11/2/2006 7:43 AM EST
URL: http://www.thestreet.com/markets/marketstory/10319470.html

Stocks were looking to buck the losing trend Thursday, with market futures edging up slightly as traders eye crucial sales data from the nation's retailers, as well as key readings on inflation, employment and productivity. S&P 500 futures were recently higher by 1.6 points at 1,374.50 and Nasdaq 100 futures up 1.75 points at 1,721.00. Dow Industrial futures rose 16 points. The Dow lost 49.7 points Wednesday, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 32 points and the S&P 500 dipped 10 points as traders fretted over disappointing factory and housing numbers. Overseas, the Nikkei 225 ended 0.2% lower in Tokyo and the FTSE 100 edged 0.1% lower in London. The euro was up to $1.2764; against the yen the U.S. dollar slipped back to 116.79. Gold futures were down $1.20 to $618.10, while crude oil futures were sliding to $58.35 a barrel in electronic trading. In other news, Smith & Nephew (SNN) said early Thursday it has held preliminary talks with Biomet (BMET) over a possible trans-Atlantic merger of orthopedic device makers. London-based Smith & Nephew emphasized in a press release that it "is constantly looking at opportunities to maximize shareholder value, including looking at potential strategic acquisitions." Becton Dickinson (BDX) beat fourth-quarter targets and guided higher for fiscal 2007. The Franklin Lakes, N.J., medical technology shop made $175 million, or 69 cents a share, for the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, up from the year-ago $122 million, or 47 cents a share. Excluding certain items, earnings rose to 85 cents a share from 76 cents a year earlier. Revenue rose to $1.49 billion from $1.38 billion a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for an 84-cent profit on sales of $1.48 billion. Todco (THE) said third-quarter earnings nearly tripled from a year ago as dayrates improved, although revenue came up shy of Wall Street's expectations. The Houston-based drilling services company made $56 million, or 92 cents a share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from the year-ago $19 million, or 31 cents a share. Revenue rose to $242 million from $141 million a year earlier.