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Wall St. at pivot point
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July 30, 2001: 6:32 a.m. ET
With quarterly results out, markets could set rest-of-summer tone
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Monday's U.S. stock session could be a harbinger of the rest of the summer, now that most of the latest earnings results are out and the emphasis returns to the economy and monetary policy.
Both the Nasdaq-100 and Standard & Poor's futures rose in early trading, a signal that the major indexes were poised to start the day in positive territory.
This week brings a few key economic figures, capped by the government's July employment report scheduled for Friday. This is after a couple of weeks of investor fixation on corporate earnings, most of which were weaker than a year earlier.
"The focus will be more ... on the economic numbers and the employment figures," Brian Finnerty, head of Nasdaq trading at C.E. Unterberg Towbin, told CNN's Moneyline Weekend. "I think we`ll get an August rally that might be better ... than the head-fake move we had from April to the middle of May."
Besides the data, investors will be biding their time until Aug. 21, when the Federal Reserve meets to determine whether to cut interest rates for the seventh time this year.
The Dow Jones industrial average starts the week at 10,416.67 after a 39-point decline Friday. The Nasdaq composite index is at 2,029.07 following a 6-point gain, while the Standard & Poor's 500 is at 1,205.82 after rising nearly 3 points.
Major Asian markets closed lower Monday, with Tokyo's Nikkei index reaching a 16-1/2 year low. European markets opened their session with declines.
Treasury prices were mixed in early trading. The 10-year note yield rose to 5.51 percent from 5.50 percent late Friday, but the 30-year bond yield was unchanged at 5.54 percent.
The dollar rose sharply against the yen and more modestly versus the euro.
Among the companies due to report Monday morning is Tyson Foods (TSN: Research, Estimates), the chicken processor that's expected to post fiscal third-quarter earnings of 7 cents a share, down from 18 cents a year earlier. Tyson shares closed Friday at $10.40, down 19 cents.
Also due Monday morning: cable operator Charter Communications (CHTR: Research, Estimates), health care insurer Humana (HUM: Research, Estimates) and fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger (TOM: Research, Estimates).
Among the companies reporting after the close is Expedia (EXPE: Research, Estimates), the travel Web site spun off by Microsoft. It's expected to show a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of 20 cents a share, compared with a loss of 30 cents a year earlier. Expedia shares lost $1.10 to $49.99.
Also due after the close are leather goods maker Coach (COH: Research, Estimates) and Internet usage measurer Jupiter Media Matrix (JMXI: Research, Estimates) .
GE Capital, the huge financial services arm of General Electric (GE: Research, Estimates), agreed Monday to buy Heller Financial (HF: Research, Estimates) for about $5.3 billion. The deal would value Heller, a financial services provider, at $53.75 a share, well above the stock's $35.90 close on Friday. Heller rose $17.20 to $53.10 in before-hours trading Monday. GE shares closed Friday at $44.65, up 90 cents. 
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