Investors look to big-name techs

WALL STREET investors are looking forward to some of the last big-name firms to report annual earnings while second-tier reports should show some firming of key consumer indicators to support the economic recovery.

January retail sales figures are out on Wednesday. The figure is expected to be up just 0.1%, but minus cars should rise 0.3%. On Friday, the producer price index should reflect how little price pressure there is in the pipeline with a 0.1% rise in the headline and core rates. Also on Friday, the Michigan consumer sentiment survey, which gives the first indication of how upbeat consumers are feeling this month, is expected to firm to 94.4 from 93.

On the downside, industrial output for January is expected to fall 0.2% with capacity utilisation dropping to 74.2%, indicating a recovery in the battered manufacturing sector has not yet begun.

On the earnings front, computer hardware maker Dell is expected to show earnings of 17 cents a share, flat against a year ago, while rival Hewlett-Packard is thought to have declined to about 16 cents a share from 41 cents.