Wall Street's new issues bonanza

WALL Street will be looking for signs of revival in the new issues market this week, not to mention confirmation of a rise in earnings and promises of bright prospects from brand-name retailers.

Several businesses from bioscience to human resources are scheduled to begin trading in what could be the busiest week for niche initial public offerings in months. Investment banks are scheduled to raise more than $800m (£550m) for the likes of Eon Labs, Hewitt Associates, Altiris and Liposcience.

Investors hope these firms do as well as Krispy Kreme Doughnut, the antidote to the hi-tech IPO and one of the best new-issue performers of the past year.

Later this week, KK is expected to post earnings of 14 cents a share, a 40% rise from a year earlier. On Tuesday, star retailers Home Depot and Target are expected to show healthy profit increases, with Home Depot rising more than 20% to 33 cents a share and Target jumping to 36 cents a share from 28 cents a year ago.

A thriving retail sector is critical to America's recovery prospects because consumers drive two-thirds of economic growth. It will be a light week for economic statistics, which is just as well as recent data have sown confusion about the state of the economy. Today, leading indicators are expected to post a drop of 0.2% for April, ending a string of increases in the forward-looking gauge.

Data supplied by Thomson Global Markets