Wall Street stocks are expected to open lower today as Wall Street digests powerful rallies in the past two sessions on hopes the US economy and corporate profits are recovering.
"After two days of spectacular gains - the Dow is up 500 points and the Nasdaq is up 100 points - you have to expect some pullback," said Mr Larry Wachtel, analyst at Prudential Securities.
In trading before the bell, shares of chipmakers Texas Instruments and Intel rose, but equity futures still pointed to a soft open.
Intel climbed to $32.75 on the Instinet trading system from its Nasdaq close of $31.85. Wall Street house Morgan Stanley raised its rating on the chip leader to "strong buy" from "outperform".
US stocks rallied yesterday, sending the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average to its highest close since July, as investors bet an economic recovery and corporate profit rebound are around the corner.
For the Dow, Monday and Friday added up to a percentage gain that for two days is the largest since late September - when the market began its spectacular late 2001 rally off the post-September 11th three-year lows.
The Dow jumped 217.96 points, or 2.10 per cent, to 10,586.82 - its highest close since July 19th. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 22.06 points, or 1.95 per cent, to 1,153.84, pulling the index into the black for the year.
The Nasdaq advanced 56.58 points, or 3.14 per cent, to 1,859.32.