Stock Futures Lower on Greek Concern. Stocks to Watch: AAPL, BAC, C, XOM, JBHT, MS, MSI, LCC

Published on Monday, 30 January 2012 07:38 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, January 30^th  (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures were pointing to a lower open, as a busy earnings reporting week gets under way amid weakness in overseas markets on renewed concerns over the lack of a deal on the Greek debt swap negotiations.

In Asia, most stocks closed lower, with investors trading cautiously amid jitters over the Greek debt swap deal negotiations. In Japan, the Nikkei fell for the third session with shares of Mitsubishi Electric plunging close to 15% on earnings miss. In China, the Shanghai Composite lost 1.5%, as it resumed trading following the Chinese New Year holiday; banks were the biggest drag after an expected cut in reserve requirements didn’t occur.

In Europe, equity markets were trading lower, as fears over the Greek debt swap negotiations weighed. Greece and its private bondholders continued to negotiate on how to avoid a messy default without reaching a deal, weighing on sentiment ahead of a new European Union summit. French banks were seeing added pressure after President Nicholas Sarkozy announced plans to introduce a financial transaction tax, effective August first.

The euro was losing 0.80% against the Dollar, trading above the $1.31 level. Crude oil was falling 0.54% to $99.02 per barrel. Gold was dropping 0.70% to $1720 an ounce and silver was sliding 1.76% to $33.195 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper was tumbling 1.85%.

On economic news at 8:30 am, December Personal Income and Consumer Spending data will be released, along with PCE prices.

Today’s Stocks to watch: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ: JBHT), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI), and US Airways (NYSE: LCC).

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, was falling 0.32% to $445.85. The stock jumped 6.42% last week after the company reported record shattering results, which prompted numerous brokerages to boost their target prices on the stock, including Ticonderoga lifting its target to $666, Barclays bumping its target price to $630 from $555, and Citigroup raising it to $600 from $500. Apple posted a new all-time high of $454.45 last week. Also last week, main smartphone rival Samsung Electronics posted record profits, as the Korean electronics giant benefited from strong sales in smartphones during the holiday quarter. According to the latest data, Apple was able to topple Samsung as the top smartphone maker in the world in the fourth quarter, however for the total 2011 year, the Korean company outsold Apple with 97.4 million smartphones versus 93 million iPhones.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was tumbling 2.47% to $7.11 in pre-market amid European jitters, with Greece failing to reach a deal with its private bondholders and as French banks were under pressure following the announcement from France’s President of plans to introduce a financial transaction tax in the summer. The Charlotte, NC based bank also announced that it was shaking up its Investment Banking unit, by naming Christian Meissner as the sole head of that business, while the prior two co-heads of the unit will assume different roles. Bank of America has surged in January, with shares rallying more 31% for the year.

Citigroup (NYSE: C), the diversified financial services firm, was falling 0.87% to $30.60 in pre-market, amid European jitters surrounding the lack of a deal on the Greek debt swap negotiations. According to reports the company’s Chairman of the Board Richard Parsons is considering to step down, while the bank will be closing its Proprietary trading desk before the new government rules banning it take effect. Citigroup was upgraded to a Buy from Neutral at Citigroup. Citi has surged 17.3% so far this year.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), the U.S. largest energy producer, will be in focus after announcing a deal in which it will sell its Japanese operations for $3.9 billion. Exxon will sell 99% of Exxon Mobil Yugen Kaisha, which produces and sells fuels, to TonenGeneral Sekiyu KK. The company is also expected to report its quarterly results tomorrow before the opening bell. On average analysts expect a profit of $1.95 per share on revenues of $119.7 billion.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ: JBHT) will be in focus after FBR Capital bumped its target price to  $56 from $52, as the firm expects a significant tailwind in the first half of the year amid an early and perhaps robust peak-trucking season. Last week, the company beat earnings expectations by $0.03 per share on revenues that jumped 18% year over year to 18.1%. Dahlman Rose also raised its estimates and target price to $54 following the earnings beat.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), the operator of a global securities business, was falling 0.32 to $18.50, giving back some of its Friday’s gains of more than 2.2% that came after it was disclosed that the company would play a lead role in the upcoming and highly anticipated Facebook IPO. The initial public offering for the social media giant is expected to be one of the largest in the U.S., yielding a value for Facebook of $75 to $100 billion. Rival Goldman Sachs will also play a role and meanwhile its analysts have added Morgan Stanley to its coveted Conviction Buy List.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI), the provider of mission-critical communication products and services, will be in focus after the company’s board of directors increased its stock repurchase program by $1 billion to $3 billion. After stock repurchases of approximately $1.1 billion through Dec. 31, 2011, Motorola Solutions will have up to approximately $1.9 billion for its stock repurchase program in 2012. Last week, the company beat earnings expectations by $0.05 per share on inline revenues, while issuing downside EPS guidance and upside revenue guidance for the current quarter.

US Airways (NYSE: LCC), the Phoenix based airline, will likely have an upside bias amid a drop in crude oil prices and on report from the Wall Street Journal suggesting that Delta has been looking and studying the possibility of a merger with American Airlines or US Airways. According to the report Delta is assessing which deal will make the most sense strategically and which one will be easier on the regulatory front. Last week, US Airways reached a tentative deal on a combined labor contract with its flight attendants, who have been working to negotiate a joint agreement since the 2005 merger of US Airways and America West Airlines.