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Wall St. futures higher, durable goods data eyed

July 25 12:05:01 PM, Yahoo News

Reuters - (Reuters) Futures for the Nasdaq were up 0.4 percent at 4:17 a.m. EDT on Friday while the the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P were both up 0.1 percent.

Companies reporting on Friday include Black & Decker Corp (BDK.N), T Rowe Price (TROW.O), Legg Mason Inc (LM.N), ITT Corp (ITT.N), and Coventry Health Care Inc (CVH.N).

Key macro data on Friday include durable goods orders (June) at 8:30 a.m. EDT, Reuters/University of Michigan sentiment (July, final) at 9:55 a.m. EDT, and new home sales (June) at 10 a.m. EDT.

Meanwhile, after the close, shares of Columbia Sportswear (COLM.O) dropped 10 percent after the outerwear maker reported a quarterly net loss of $1.8 million.

Crocs Inc (CROX.O) shares tumbled 54.5 percent after the shoemaker cut its profit and revenue forecasts for the second quarter and full year, citing a challenging U.S. market for its colorful shoes.

Flextronics International Ltd (FLEX.O) rose 2.3 percent after the contract electronics manufacturer posted a higher quarterly profit, paced by higher sales of consumer electronics devices.

Western Digital (WDC.N) will be in focus on Friday after the hard disk drive maker gave a forecast for its current quarter that was less than analysts were expecting.

Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF.N) will be watched after the Wall Street Journal reported the chief of U.S. hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, its largest shareholder, has begun pushing the iron ore pellet maker to put itself up for sale.

BankUnited Financial (BKUNA.O) will be eyed after the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation, that two private-equity firms were considering investments in BankUnited.

The U.S. Senate is on course for a Saturday vote to approve a major housing market rescue bill with a lifeline for Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N).

(Reporting by Eva Kuehnen; Editing by Quentin Webb)

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