6:52 AM
S&P 500 seen testing April lows, Apple eyed
Addison Ray
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK | Mon Jun 6, 2011 7:48am EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 looked set to retest its April lows on Monday after signs the economy was slowing pushed the index to its fifth week of losses, with many investors expecting the downtrend to continue.
The broad-based index has fallen 4.5 percent since a recent high at the start May and is trading at six-week lows after falling through technical support levels. Investors are eyeing the index's low for April.
"We are precariously close to testing the April low of 1,294.70, which if broken adds a danger factor of the market testing the March low of 1,249.05," said Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lek Securities in New York.
A much weaker-than-expected jobs report on Friday was the latest disappointing economic news to hit sentiment.
S&P 500 futures fell 3.3 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures lost 25 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 5.5 points.
In what could be a bright spot for investors, Apple Inc (AAPL.O) Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who has been on medical leave for months, takes to the stage in San Francisco Monday and could take the wraps off what investors hope will be the next source of growth for the company. The shares rose 0.5 percent to $345 in premarket trade.
World markets were weak Monday. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares fell for a fourth straight session, down 0.5 percent. .EU
The Nikkei average .N225 fell 1.2 percent to an 11-week closing low as speculation that Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T) could go through a restructuring fanned bearish sentiment in the wake of soft U.S. data.
Brent crude fell 1.3 percent to $114.39 a barrel on concern about demand ahead of a key OPEC meeting later this week. Signs that high prices are destroying demand in the West are worrying a group of OPEC's core members.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou starts a campaign to secure a new international bailout by imposing a long period of austerity on a nation already seething over corruption and economic mismanagement.
Google Inc (GOOG.O) is a "political tool" vilifying the Chinese government, an official Beijing newspaper said, warning that the U.S. Internet search group's statements about hacking attacks traced to China could hurt its business.
Nobel Prize winner Peter Diamond said Sunday he planned to withdraw as a nominee for Federal Reserve governor after his nomination was repeatedly opposed by Republicans.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) could release documents to counter a Senate subcommittee report that claimed the bank misled clients about mortgage-linked securities, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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