Tail-End of Profit Warnings May Wag Investors

The stock market this week is set to rise on expectations of lower oil prices and a higher euro, but fears of companies’ warning profits will fall short of forecasts will linger. It is the tail-end of earnings-warning season, and investors are holding their collective breath, lest another market bellwether such as Intel Corp. devastate global markets. The world’s largest chip maker dragged down global stock indexes Friday after it warned of lackluster revenue. But U.S. technology stocks, minus Intel, late Friday afternoon recouped most of their earlier losses, which bodes well for this week’s market, analysts said. U.S. companies expected to release quarterly earnings figures this week include Internet equipment maker Cabletron Systems Inc., hotel company Marriott International and supermarket chain Safeway Inc. New economic data to be released this week include consumer confidence and GDP figures. These data are expected to show a slowing but still strong U.S. economy, as most recent economic figures have.