* Delay in unveiling of US bank rescue plan disappoints
* Whirlpool, Hasbro, NYSE Euronext profits drop
* McDonald's shares jump after sales report
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click []
(Recasts first paragraph, updates prices)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks headed for a lower
open on Monday as a delay in the announcement of the Obama
administration's bank rescue plan disappointed investors and
another wave of poor earnings showed more economic upheaval.
Adding to the cautionary tone were indications that an $827
billion U.S. economic stimulus package could face another day
of political wrangling before a Senate vote on the measure on
Tuesday.
The stimulus and bank rescue plan are a make-or-break for
stock investors searching for catalysts to sustain the market's
attempt to recover since stocks hit a bear market low in
November.
"Investors are excited about the bank rescue proposal but
are mildly disappointed that it's not happening today," said
Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co in
Boston.
"Had we had passage of the stimulus last week, which some
people thought we might, we would have been having the bank
plan announced today."
Companies posting poor earnings before the bell included
appliance maker Whirlpool Corp <WHR.N> , toymaker Hasbro Inc
<HAS.N> and trans-Atlantic exchange operator NYSE Euronext
<NYX.PA><NYX.N>. But McDonald's <MCD.N> posted a jump in
January sales from restaurants open at least 13 months.
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> fell 5.90 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 <DJc1> fell 48
points, and Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> futures declined 6 points.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who was originally
expected to outline the bank bailout plan on Monday, will now
do so in a speech at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) on Tuesday, the
Treasury Department said.
He postponed the announcement of the plan, which will seek
to shore up some of the biggest commercial banks in the United
States, to enable lawmakers in Congress to focus on the
stimulus package on Monday, the Treasury said.
Optimism about the bank rescue helped spur a rally on Wall
Street on Friday as investors defied data that showed non-farm
payrolls suffered their biggest cut in 34 years in January.
Shares in major U.S. banks such as Bank of America <BAC.N>
and Citigroup <C.N> have been volatile in recent weeks on
speculation about the contents of the financial rescue plan and
whether it would successfully remove the overhang of toxic
assets that is forcing banks to take huge losses.
On the stimulus front, squabbling will resume on Monday
when the Democratic-led Senate, with the help of just a few
Republicans, votes to end debate on the package and clear the
way for passage of the measure on Tuesday.
Negotiators will then seek to resolve differences between
the Senate bill and an $819 billion version of the measure
earlier passed by the House of Representatives.
In earnings news, Hasbro Inc <HAS.N> , a toy maker, posted
quarterly profit that missed Wall Street's forecasts, offering
yet another sign of consumer cutbacks as the recession deepens.
For details, see []
Profit at Trans-Atlantic exchange operator NYSE Euronext
<NYX.PA><NYX.N> also missed analysts' estimates. Appliance
maker Whirlpool said quarterly profit slid 76 percent, sparking
a drop of 7 percent to $33.83 in the stock before the bell.
(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
