Wall Street was mixed on Friday pre-market trading, following strong housing starts growth of 13.7% to 1.29 million, higher than the expected 1.19 million.
Shares of Foot Locker Inc. (FL, Financial) jumped 22% in the pre-market session, ahead of reporting financial results for the third quarter. The company posted EPS of 87 cents and beat estimates by 7 cents while revenue of $1.87 billion also beat by $40 million but was down1.1% year over year.
Richard Johnson, Chairman and CEO, said that the results were consistent with the company's expectations. "Despite the highly promotional environment we still see in the marketplace, the availability of premium product is gradually improving compared to the first half of the year, and we believe we can achieve, and perhaps modestly exceed, the top- and bottom-line guidance we gave for the fourth quarter back in August," he said.
Gainers
• Ross Stores Inc. (ROST, Financial)
• Viacom Inc. (VIAB, Financial)
• The Gap Inc. (GPS, Financial)
Losers
• Cummins Inc. (CMI, Financial)
• PACCAR Inc. (PCAR, Financial)
• Envision Healthcare Corporation (EVHC, Financial)
• Electronic Arts Inc. (EA, Financial)
Global Markets
The main European stock markets traded lower. The U.K.'s FTSE closed flat, the Germany's Dax lost 0.10%, the France's CAC closed down 0.23%, and the Spain's Ibex fell 0.60%.
In Asia, China´s Shanghai slid 0.48% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed up 0.62%, India’s BSE Sensex inched up 0.71% and Japan's Nikkei jumped 0.20%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
