A relatively mixed tone is indicated during premarket action (S&P futures +0.7, Nasdaq futures +3.5).
McDonald's announced global same-store sales climbed 8% in July. Its U.S. comparable-store sales were up 6.7%. Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch
is planning to buy back auction rate securities from its clients. They
are mostly AAA and not credit impaired. Additionally, Korea Investment
Corp. disclosed a 7.4% stake in Merrill in a regulatory filing.
Second quarter nonfarm productivity increased 2.2%, though economists
were looking for 2.5% after the first quarter's 2.6% increase. Unit
labor costs were up 1.3% after climbing 2.5% in the first quarter.
Economists thought unit labor costs would climb 1.4%.
Separately, relative strength in the dollar is helping push oil prices lower.