U.S. Stocks Slightly Down On Mixed Data

U.S. stock futures were higher this morning, as investors awaited economic date on housing prices, which did not disappoint. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 37 points to 12,468.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 4.60 points to 1,311.20. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 10.50 points to 2,537.00.
 
U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 1.09% to 12,502.66, the S&P 500 index falling 1.60% to 1,313.72 and the Nasdaq 100 index declining 1.95% to 2,836.16.

Mixed News
The Case-Shiller home-price index for April showed that U.S. home prices rose in April, posting their first monthly gain since last fall. However consumer confidence data came up short as Americans continue to show concern over their economic prospects. The consumer-confidence index fell to 62 in June -- its lowest level since January.
 
Robbins & Myers (NYSE: RBN) is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.90 on revenue of $267.18 million. AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) is estimated to post its Q4 EPS at $0.72 on revenue of $111.32 million.
 
LDK Solar Co. Ltd (NYSE: LDK) is expected to report a Q1 loss at $1.14 per share on revenue of $225.47 million. H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $2.05 per share on revenue of $2.01 billion.
 
Sealy (NYSE: ZZ) is expected to post its Q2 EPS at $0.00 on revenue of $311.85 million.
 
Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) reported better-than-expected FQ3 profit
 
Synnex (NYSE: SNX) reported a rise in its Q2 net profit. However, the company issued downbeat forecast for the third quarter.
 
European markets were mixed today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.02%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.03%, French CAC 40 index rose 0.11% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.08%.

Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average falling 0.81%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.09% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.39%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.45% and India's Sensex rose 0.14%.
 
The euro rose 0.01% versus the dollar to trade at $1.2505.
 
Gold for August delivery declined $4 to $1,585.10 a barrel. However, oil for August delivery gained $0.18 to $79.37 a barrel.

BY Monica Gerson