Vittorio blog

Dow looks to extend 7-day winning streak

NEW YORK – Stocks appear headed for a lower opening Wednesday, threatening to break a seven-day winning streak by the Dow Jones industrial average.

Stronger corporate earnings reports and economic data have helped push the Dow and the broader S&P 500 index to levels last seen in June 2008. Nearly three-quarters of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported profits that beat analysts' estimates.

Coca-Cola and Cisco, two of the 30 large companies that make up the Dow, report quarterly results Wednesday.

Before the market opened, Coca-Cola said net income more than tripled, helped by the acquisition of a bottler and selling more drinks in North America. Its adjusted earnings matched Wall Street estimates and revenue surpassed them by a small margin. Coca-Cola rose 1.3 percent in pre-market trading.

Cisco is scheduled to release results after the market closes.

No major economic reports are due Wednesday, but Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve's chairman, will make his first visit to the House of Representatives since Republicans took control last month. Bernanke will present his economic outlook to the House Budget Committee.

Bernanke is expected to face tough questions from Republican members of the House over the Fed's efforts to boost the economy through buying $600 billion in government debt.

American International Group Inc. said early Wednesday that it expects to take a charge of $4.1 billion to build up reserves against losses for its Chartis property and casualty insurance units. AIG dropped less than 1 percent in pre-market trading.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures are down 19 points, or 0.1 percent, at 12,177. S&P 500 futures are down 5 points, or 0.4 percent, at 1,316. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 7 points, or 0.3 percent, at 2,355.

After the market closed Tuesday, Walt Disney Co. reported earnings that beat expectations. The gains were largely thanks to higher advertising revenue at its ESPN and ABC television networks. Walt Disney is up 3.6 percent in pre-market trading.