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By Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures pointed to a sixth straight day of losses Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s downbeat assessment of the economy continued to weigh on sentiment and as investors awaited the Fed’s latest summary of regional conditions.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/zigman/1761000 DJ1M -0.29% dropped 30 points to 12,042 and Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures /quotes/zigman/1235464 SP1M -0.41% fell 3.40 points to 1,281.40.
While speaking to a group of bankers, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he expected the economic recovery to grow unevenly and at a moderate pace.
Nasdaq 100 futures /quotes/zigman/770371 ND1M -0.59% were down 11 points at 2,262.75.
U.S. markets gave up early gains to close lower Tuesday after Bernanke said that U.S. economic growth has been “somewhat slower” than expected, but gave no indication that the Fed could launch a third round of quantitative easing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/zigman/627449/delayed DJI -0.16% closed down around 19 points, having earlier risen as much as 89 points.
The Fed will remain in focus Wednesday, with its Beige Book summary of anecdotal information on regional economic conditions due to be published at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
The dollar edged higher Wednesday, while commodity prices slipped in the wake of Bernanke’s speech. The dollar index /quotes/zigman/1652083 DXY +0.14% rose 0.2% to 73.70 and gold for August delivery /quotes/zigman/700181 GC1Q -0.43% fell $7, or 0.5%, to $1,537 an ounce.
Oil prices were also lower amid speculation that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will raise output quotas at a meeting in Vienna. The July light-crude contract fell 88 cents to $98.21 a barrel. Read more on oil prices and OPEC's plans.
International stock markets were also mostly weaker Wednesday. Germany’s DAX 30 index /quotes/zigman/2380246 DX:DAX -1.12% fell 1.1% as sovereign-debt concerns added to the downbeat sentiment emanating from the U.S. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average /quotes/zigman/715506 JP:NIK +0.07% edged up 0.1%.
Among companies in focus, Citigroup Inc. /quotes/zigman/5065548/quotes/nls/c C -1.29% has agreed to sell a $1.7 billion portfolio of private-equity assets to AXA Private Equity, part of AXA SA /quotes/zigman/163170 FR:CS -1.23% , according to a statement from the European group.
The sale, which was first reported in The Wall Street Journal, is part of Citigroup’s strategy to clean up its books in the wake of the financial crisis, the Journal said. Shares in Citigroup were down 1.1% in premarket trading.
Shares in LDK Solar Co. /quotes/zigman/466992/quotes/nls/ldk LDK +6.45% may fall after the maker of solar wafers and modules late Tuesday forecast second-quarter revenue below market expectations.
Also late Tuesday, Prudential Financial Inc. /quotes/zigman/294774/quotes/nls/pru PRU 0.00% said it would buy back $1.5 billion in stock before the end of June.
Companies reporting earnings Wednesday include retailer Men’s Wearhouse Inc. /quotes/zigman/233713/quotes/nls/mw MW -2.22% , which is expected to announce a quarterly profit of 49 cents a share after markets close.
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/quotes/zigman/1235464 /quotes/zigman/770371 /quotes/zigman/627449/delayed /quotes/zigman/1652083 /quotes/zigman/700181 /quotes/zigman/2380246 /quotes/zigman/715506 /quotes/zigman/5065548/quotes/nls/c /quotes/zigman/163170 /quotes/zigman/466992/quotes/nls/ldk /quotes/zigman/294774/quotes/nls/pru /quotes/zigman/233713/quotes/nls/mw Simon Kennedy is the City correspondent for MarketWatch in London. View the original article here
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