Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks fell in Europe. Exxon Mobil Corp. shares declined in Germany before the world's largest publicly traded oil company reports third-quarter earnings. ``Energy companies are still going to make money; they're taking a breather after leading the market,'' said Thomas Norton, a Boston-based fund manager at John Hancock Financial Services Inc., which has about $27 billion in assets. Nineteen stocks in the Dow average declined in European trading, with Merck & Co. the only stock in the benchmark to rise. The index had its biggest gain in more than five months yesterday.
Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in December climbed 0.4 to 1125.20 as of 8:37 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 9 to 9996 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures rose 0.5 to 1480. Exxon Mobil, whose shares have added almost 20 percent this year, slid 18 cents to $48.77 in Germany. Oil drilling and exploration stocks are two of the five best-performing groups in the S&P 500 so far in the second half. Crude oil for December delivery fell as much as 2.2 percent to $51.23 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after yesterday tumbling 4.9 percent as an Energy Department report showed that U.S. stockpiles increased more than expected. The futures reached a record $55.67 a barrel at the beginning of the week. Irving, Texas-based Exxon may report third-quarter profit jumped 58 percent, based on the average estimate of 20 analysts polled by Thomson Financial. The gain in net income will be the second in eight quarters.
3M, Verizon, Viacom
3M Co., whose 50,000 products are sold in 60 countries, shed 76 cents to $76.80 in Germany. Home Depot Inc., the largest home- improvement chain, slid 46 cents to $40.33. Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. may be active. The largest U.S. local-telephone company may report a third-quarter sales gain of 4.8 percent from adding more wireless customer. Earnings per share excluding some gains and losses is expected to have dropped 4.5 percent to 64 cents, based on Thomson Financial estimates. The stock didn't trade in Europe. Viacom Inc. is also scheduled to report quarterly results. The third-largest U.S. media company may report third-quarter earnings per share excluding some items climbed 2.5 percent to 41 cents, based on estimates by Thomson Financial. The stock wasn't active in Europe.
Jobless Claims
The number of U.S. workers filing initial claims for unemployment insurance may have risen last week from the lowest level since early September, according to a survey of economists ahead of today's government report. The forecast of an increase to 335,000 from 329,000 is based on the median of 38 estimates received by Bloomberg News. Claims haven't been as low since 318,000 in the week that ended Sept. 4. The Labor Department issues its report at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Delta Air Lines Inc. shares dropped 3 cents to $4.90 in Germany. The Atlanta-based airline may avert a bankruptcy filing by reaching a tentative agreement with its pilots union on wage and benefit cuts to reduce costs after widening losses. Delta's Air Line Pilots Association agreed to a ``cost savings package'' late yesterday, the union said on its Web site. Separately, the International Air Transport Association said combined losses for airlines globally may exceed its earlier forecast of $3 billion to $4 billion as the cost of fuel surges.
Yesterday, the Dow average rose 1.2 percent to 10,002.03 for a two day gain of 2.6 percent, the largest such advance since May 12, 2003. The S&P 500 added 1.3 percent to 1125.40, rounding off a 2.8 percent two-day advance, its biggest since April 23, 2003. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 2.1 percent to 1969.99. In Asia, the Morgan Stanley Capital International's Asia- Pacific Index climbed 1.7 percent to 91.73 as of 4:24 p.m. in Tokyo, poised for its steepest climb since July 30. ///www.bloomberg.com