* Poor corporate outlooks hurt sentiment
* Tech to lead losses after Apple, TI disappoint
* Wachovia cuts dividend, damps bank sector hopes
(Updates with details throughout)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, July 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures slid on
Tuesday as disappointing outlooks from bellwethers, including
Apple Inc <AAPL.O> and Europe's Vodafone <VOD.L>, increased
concerns about weakening economic growth and more fallout from
the U.S. housing slump.
Adding to the negative tone, Wachovia Corp <WB.N>, the
fourth-largest U.S. bank, posted an $8.86 billion
second-quarter loss and slashed its dividend to shore up its
balance sheet as mortgage delinquencies rose. For details, see
[].
The news from Wachovia, whose stock declined more than 10
percent to $11.80 before the opening bell, damped hopes the
bank sector was stabilizing. In recent days
stronger-than-expected results from major banks like Citigroup
<C.N>, Wells Fargo <WFC.N> and JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> had
fed those hopes.
Apple, also down more than 10 percent at $149.74, was
poised to lead a technology sell-off, a day after the iPod and
iPhone maker said its current-quarter earnings will be well
below Wall Street's targets.
Apple's warning, along with a reduced revenue forecast from
Europe's mobile phone company Vodafone, and a poor
third-quarter profit forecast from chip maker Texas Instruments
<TXN.N> underscored growing unease about slowing economic
growth in the United States and abroad.
"We must have a slow economy because Texas Instruments,
American Express and Apple are having a hard time," said Arthur
Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co in Boston.
"Those are some household names, putting some pressure on
stocks. Wachovia doesn't look positive."
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> slipped 11 points and were below
fair value, a mathematical formula that evaluates pricing by
taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to
expiration on the contract.
Dow Jones industrial average futures <DJc1> fell 90 points,
and Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> futures declined 32 points.
Dow component American Express <AXP.N> also reported a
profit that missed Wall Street's estimates late on Monday.
American Express shares were down 12.5 percent before the bell
at $35.80.
In other bank news, SunTrust Banks Inc <STI.N>, a large
U.S. southeast regional bank, said higher real estate losses
led to a 21 percent drop in quarterly profit. SunTrust boosted
capital from transactions involving the sale of a big Coca-Cola
Co <KO.N> stake. []
Bank examiners from the Federal Reserve and the Comptroller
of the Currency are inspecting the books of mortgage finance
companies, Fannie Mae <FNM.N> and Freddie Mac <FRE.N>, The New
York Times reported on Tuesday.
U.S. stocks slipped on Monday as oil turned higher after
last week's sharp drop and Merck <MRK.N> and Schering-Plough
<SGP.N> hurt the pharmaceuticals sector.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
