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Wall St futures point to weak start after holiday

Addison Ray

Fri Nov 26, 2010 4:49am EST

(Reuters) - Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1-0.5 percent, pointing to a weaker start on Wall Street on Friday as trading resumes after the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.

U.S. biotech Genzyme (GENZ.O), the target of an $18.5 billion takeover bid by French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA), is open to linking the performance of its Campath drug to the offer, its chief executive Henri Termeer told Le Figaro in an interview.

U.S. shoppers searched for deals on high-definition televisions and popular toys early on Friday, as retailers hoped that "Black Friday" would kick off the best holiday shopping season in three years.

Resource-related stocks will be in focus as key base metals prices fell, pressured by a rise in margin requirements by the Chinese exchange that prompted liquidation of speculative positions by investors with limited funding.

European shares fell on Friday as the euro zone debt crisis intensified, with Portugal under pressure to accept a bailout. Mining companies were hit by weaker commodity prices on Chinese inflation worries.

Japan's Nikkei share average .N225 dipped 0.4 percent on Friday, held back by profit-taking after rallying nearly 10 percent so far this month on a pick-up in overseas investor demand for Japanese equities.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI jumped 150.91 points, or 1.37 percent, to 11,187.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 17.62 points, or 1.49 percent, to 1,198.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC gained 48.17 points, or 1.93 percent, to 2,543.12.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash. Editing by Jane Merriman)



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