Wall St set to open higher on M&A; data eyed
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Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:07:01 GMT |
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By Kristina CookeNEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to start a shortened session higher on Tuesday, boosted by the latest merger and acquisition news and before data on the manufacturing and housing sectors.Kraft Foods Inc. is in exclusive talks to buy Danone's biscuit and cereal unit for 5.3 billion euros ($7.20 billion) in cash, the companies said. Kraft's shares rose 1.8 percent in Europe.The market will close early at 1 p.m. (1700 GMT) ahead of Wednesday's U.S. Independence Day holiday when financial markets will be closed all day."You have got a possibility of more M&A activity with Kraft-Danone, and European shares are up. That's fueling the market in this shortened trading session in a shortened week," said Tim Smalls, head of U.S. stock trading at brokerage firm Execution LLC in Greenwich, Connecticut.European stocks rose to their highest level in almost two weeks as merger-and-acquisition activity and signs of solid economic growth helped investors brush off recent fears over rising interest rates.S&P 500 futures rose 4.20 points, above fair value, a mathematical formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract.Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 20 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 8.50 points.Investors will scrutinize data on factory orders and pending home sales at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) for more clues on the health of the economy.Shares of software maker Oracle Corp. rose to a six-year high in trading before the opening bell after rival SAP AG admitted a subsidiary had carried out "inappropriate downloads" of documents belonging to Oracle. Oracle shares rose to 1.2 percent to $20.16 in electronic trade, but then fell back to $20.02, or0.5 percent higher.Shares of Caterpillar Inc dropped 1.8 percent to $79 before the bell after MarketWatch reported that UBS had cut its rating on the diversified manufacturer.Ford Motor Co. fell 2.1 percent in Europe after it said late on Monday it is offering a premium to holders of its 5-year-old debt securities to convert them to common stock, a move that could hit the automaker's third-quarter results.Ford will join other automakers in the spotlight as they report June domestic car and truck sales later on Tuesday.
(c) Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
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