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By Geoffrey Rogow
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower opening for equities
Tuesday, ahead of reports on home price and consumer confidence, as well as the
beginning of a meeting for the Federal Reserve.

Technology stocks were particularly weak, led by Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) after Thomas
Weisel downgraded the stock to underweight from market weight. Yahoo’s
fundamentals — with the Microsoft/Icahn buzz quieting — show “the outlook
remains cloudy at best and potentially could worsen,” Thomas Weisel says, adding
that major action needs to be seen regarding a reorganization of the company.

Also weighing on stocks, United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) dropped 5.6% to $62.52
after the company cut its second-quarter earnings guidance, blaming an “anemic”
U.S. economy and “unprecedented increase” in fuel costs for lower-than-expected
U.S. package volume and decreased use of its premium air products.

The news also hurt competitor FedEx Corp. (FDX), whose shares were indicated to
open lower in Tuesday trading.

UPS comments about rising fuel prices have been echoed throughout corporate
America, and with the Federal Reserve weighing its dual mandate of helping growth
and counteracting inflation, sentiment is mixed on what decision the central bank
will make on Wednesday.

In recent electronic trading, Nymex light sweet crude was up $1.19 a barrel to
$137.93.

Early Tuesday, Dow Jones Industrial futures slid 53 points, or 0.45%, to 11778,
while Standard & Poor’s 500 futures lost 7 points to 1311. Nasdaq 100 futures
dipped 13, or 0.7%, to 1905.

U.S. stocks ended Monday roughly at the same level as Friday’s downbeat session,
as some takeover activity was offset by the familiar concerns over energy prices
and financial sector health.

Still, early morning activity could be muted with the the S&P/Case-Shiller home
price index for April and June consumer confidence data due out early in the
session.

The dollar was mixed against major rivals ahead of the Fed interest rate decision
expected for Wednesday.

Shares poised to be active Tuesday include:

Dow Chemical Up On Price Boost

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) rose slightly in premarket after disclosing a second round
of price hikes in a month, saying they will rise as much as 25% starting July 1
as the company continues to deal with surging energy costs.

UBS Gains; Co To Buy Private Dutch Bank

Shares of UBS AG (UBS) rose 5.8% to $21.80 premarket after the banks said it is
buying a small Dutch private bank in a bid to bolster its money-management arm
for the wealthy. UBS has been among the world’s hardest hit by the credit crisis
with over $37 billion in mortgage write-downs.

ASML Up On Goldman Upgrade

ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) popped 4.1% to $25.40 after Goldman Sachs upgraded the
stock to buy saying the stock is undervalued. The company was also reported to
get a boost from sister company ASM International N.V. (ASMI), which announced an
agreement with its activist shareholders.

ComScore Indicated Lower; Faces Google Competition

Shares of ComScore Inc. (SCOR) dropped 5% in late trading Monday after The Wall
Street Journal reported Google Inc. (GOOG) will soon unveil a new service that
measures Internet usage, which could make the Internet giant a major competitive
threat to Web-measurement companies.

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