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Wall Street Heads to Higher Open

Thursday September 27, 7:48 am ET
By Joe Bel Bruno, AP Business Writer
Wall Street Heads to Higher Open As Investors Look to More Economic Data

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street headed toward a higher open Thursday on speculation that new economic data will show enough weakness to give the Federal Reserve more reasons to cut interest rates.

The Commerce Department is expected to report at 10 a.m. EDT that new home sales in August continued to fall. Economists anticipate a drop of 4.6 percent from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 830,000 units, according to the consensus forecast of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR.

At 8:30 a.m. EDT, the Commerce Department is expected to report second-quarter gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 3.9 percent rate, according to analysts. This is down from the preliminary estimate of 4 percent issued last month, but still represents a substantial increase from the first quarter's 0.6 percent rate.

Wall Street is also expecting the latest weekly figures on jobless claims from the Labor Department.

These reports follow others issued this week that signaled that the economy remains sluggish. This could help persuade policymakers to lower rates again after last week's half-point cut.

Dow Jones industrial average futures expiring in December rose 47, or 0.34 percent, to 14,005. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4.90, or 0.32 percent, to 1,541.10, and Nasdaq 100 Index futures rose 9.25, or 0.44 percent, to 2,118.75.

In corporate news, trading in Bear Stearns Cos. will be driven by speculation it might be courting potential investors to buy a stake in the investment bank. There were several reports late Wednesday that billionaire Warren Buffett and Britain's HSBC PLC might be among those interested.

A group of investors led by private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co. told student lender Sallie Mae it no longer wants to complete a $25 billion buyout, saying the current economic environment and legislation being signed by President Bush on Thursday make the terms no longer acceptable. The investors did say they are willing to discuss terms.

General Motors Corp. -- which surged more than 9 percent on Wednesday -- is expected to extend its advance. The company secured a deal for a new labor contract to end a two-day strike by the United Auto Workers.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. shares might get a lift after the retailer reported late Wednesday that second-quarter profit that beat Wall Street expectations. The company also announced a $1 billion stock buyback.

Chevron Corp. said late Wednesday it will buy back up to $15 billion of stock during the next three years.

Crude oil prices rose as a tropical depression near Mexico raised concerns about possible disruptions to oil and gas production. A barrel of light sweet crude rose 64 cents to $80.94 in premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.90 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.63 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.80 percent.

In Asia earlier, Japan's Nikkei index closed up 2.41 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 2.40 percent.