Nasdaq Futures

LONDON (ShareCast) - -Iran has no knowledge of request to visit Parchin base -Reports -Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK - news) may file for IPO of oil field services unit. Dow Jones Industrial: -0.14% Nasdaq Composite (Nasdaq: ^IXIC - news) : -0.27% S&P 500 (SNP: ^GSPC - news) : -0.22% The major US equity averages are now trading slightly lower, following a brief foray into positive territory by the Dow Jones Industrial earlier on. This on the back of continued doubts over Greece and weaker than expected existing home sales data out this afternoon. Meantime, news on the corporate front is looking a tad mixed this morning. Weighing on sentiment, surely, is the sharp drop to be seen in shares (-6%) of Dell (NasdaqGS: DELL - news) after the PC manufacturer offered lower than expected sales guidance for the current quarter last night. Clothes retailer TJX has announced a $1.3bn share repurchase program, along with an increase in its dividend policy. The company reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of 62 cents, a big jump from the 42 cents reported the year before, and bang in line with estimates. Quarterly results out from Toll Brothers (Xetra: 871450 - news) and Dollar Tree (Berlin: DT3.BE - news) have come in lower than forecast by analysts. Acting as a backdrop, President Obama is said to be preparing a reduction in the corporate tax rate to 28% from 35%, while removing tax breaks for companies to make up for lost revenue. From a sector stand-point, the best performers now are: oil equipment (1.28%), oil services (1.01%) and footwear (0.91%). MACROECONOMY Existing home sales rose to a 4.57m annualized rate in January (Consensus: 4.66m). The previous month´s reading has been revised down to a 4.38m rate, from a previous estimate of 4.61m). Comparable retail chain-store sales rose at a 3.0% week-on-week pace according to a survey from ICSC. OTHER MARKETS Front month West Texas crude futures are now rising 0.09% to the $106.34 mark in NYMEX trading. 10 year US Treasuries are rising by 8/32 dollars, with yields at 2.03%. S&P 500 - Risers Gannett Co (Dusseldorf: GTT.DU - news) . Inc. (GCI) $16.15 +7.78% Intuit Inc (NasdaqGS: INTU - news) . (INTU) $61.04 +6.12% Range Resources Corp (NYSE: RRC - news) . (RRC) $67.41 +4.89% Mylan Inc (NasdaqCM: MYLNG - news) . (MYL) $23.69 +4.36% Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) $21.20 +4.13% Sears Holdings Corp (NasdaqGS: SHLD - news) . (SHLD) $52.85 +3.75% Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $29.56 +3.74% Mosaic Company (MOS) $59.00 +3.67% R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (RRD) $13.65 +3.10% Macy's Inc. (M) $37.52 +2.26% S&P 500 - Fallers Newfield Exploration Co (NYSE: NFX - news) (NFX) $38.34 -9.25% Dell Inc. (DELL) $17.15 -5.85% Netflix Inc (NasdaqGS: NFLX - news) . (NFLX) $111.92 -4.67% Quanta Services Inc (NYSE: PWR - news) . (PWR) $21.19 -2.75% Comerica Inc (Stuttgart: 864861 - news) . (CMA) $29.92 -2.70% First Solar Inc (NasdaqGS: FSLR - news) . (FSLR) $41.25 -2.67% Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $24.01 -2.49% MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR - news) (WFR) $4.51 -2.17% Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW) $27.17 -2.13% Sprint Nxtel Corp. (S) $2.22 -1.98% Dow Jones I.A - Risers Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT - news) . (CAT) $116.09 +0.95% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $59.74 +0.79% Microsoft Corp (NasdaqGS: MSFT - news) . (MSFT) $31.63 +0.60% 3M Co. (MMM) $87.98 +0.43% Intel Corp (NasdaqGS: INTC - news) . (INTC) $27.27 +0.42% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $69.11 +0.42% Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE: XOM - news) . (XOM) $86.91 +0.39% American Express Co. (AXP) $53.01 +0.30% Johnson & Johnson (TLO: JNJ-U.TI - news) (JNJ) $65.20 +0.25% E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $51.68 +0.16% Dow Jones I.A - Fallers Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $28.93 -1.43% Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $59.41 -1.10% Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) $38.16 -1.06% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $38.17 -0.76% Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $38.20 -0.75% Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX - news) . (CVX) $107.73 -0.63% General Electric Co. (GE) $19.31 -0.54% Bank of America Corp (NYSE: IKJ - news) . (BAC) $8.07 -0.49% Cisco Systems Inc (NasdaqGS: CSCO - news) . (CSCO) $20.29 -0.34% AT&T Inc. (T) $30.25 -0.30% Nasdaq 100 (Nasdaq: ^NDX - news) - Risers Garmin Ltd (NasdaqGS: GRMN - news) . (GRMN) $48.91 +9.44% Intuit Inc. (INTU) $61.04 +6.12% Mylan Inc. (MYL) $23.69 +4.36% Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $52.85 +3.75% Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $29.56 +3.74% Baidu Inc (NasdaqGS: BIDU - news) . (BIDU) $133.66 +2.31% Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $53.16 +2.13% Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $28.15 +1.66% BMC Software Inc. (BMC) $39.55 +1.41% Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $59.36 +1.40% Nasdaq 100 - Fallers Dell Inc. (DELL) $17.15 -5.85% First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $41.25 -2.67% Logitech International S.A. (LOGI) $8.68 -2.58% Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $27.32 -1.88% Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. ADS (MCX: APDS.ME - news) (TEVA) $44.63 -1.35% Virgin Media Inc (NasdaqGS: VMED - news) . (VMED) $24.96 -1.23% Yahoo (NasdaqGS: YHOO - news) ! Inc. (YHOO) $14.59 -1.08% Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $44.21 -1.07% Apple Inc (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) . (AAPL) $511.16 -0.72% Qiagen N.V. (QGEN) $15.43 -0.71% AB