* Data on home prices, consumer confidence on tap
* Office Depot posts wider loss, stock sinks
* For up-to-the-minute market news click []
(Adds quote, byline, updates prices)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks headed for a
lower open on Tuesday as a handful of companies, including
Office Depot Inc <ODP.N>, posted disappointing quarterly
results and investors turned cautious before key data on home
prices and consumer confidence.
Although the primary focus remains on second-quarter
earnings, investors are eager for economic data, including
Tuesday's Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes, to
provide further evidence of a recovering U.S. economy to
justify a further run-up in stocks.
Office Depot, the No. 2 U.S. office supply retailer,
reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss as the recession
hurt demand from corporate customers. For details, see
[
Viacom Inc <VIAb.N> , owner of MTV Networks and Paramount
film studios, reported a steep fall in quarterly earnings, hit
by poor advertising revenue and a drop-off in sales of its
"Rock Band" video game. [ID:nN28534869]
"So much of this rally has been about the absence of new
bad news," said Rick Meckler, president of investment firm
LibertyView Capital Management in New York.
"I think there will be a lot of focus on the Case-Shiller
home prices report later this morning. For this rally to really
continue there has to be a shift to some actual positive
forecasts and significantly good news."
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> were 6.20 points lower 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 <DJc1>
shed 46 points, and Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> futures slipped 5.25
points.
The benchmark S&P 500 <.SPX> has rallied 45 percent from
the 12-year closing low of March 9 as investors bet on an
economic rebound.
Standard & Poor's releases its S&P Case/Shiller Home Price
Indexes for May at 9 a.m. (1300 GMT). Economists in a Reuters
survey expect a decrease in the 20-city home price index of 0.5
percent versus a 0.6 percent fall in April.
The Conference Board releases July consumer confidence, 10
a.m. (1400 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey expect a
reading of 49.0 compared with 49.3 in June.
Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> is among stocks to watch after
the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. bank was
planning to cut its 6,100-branch network by about 10 percent.
For details, see []
General Electric Co <GE.N> , in its second big investor
briefing of the year on its finance arm, said most of GE
Capital's portfolio was performing as expected, but below the
Federal Reserve's 'base case' for the economy. GE shares fell
1.1 percent to $12.19 in premarket trading.
In Monday's trading U.S. stocks rose slightly in a late
rally as investors rotated into financial shares, which had
lagged in the recent two-week run-up.
(Editing by Padraic Cassidy)
