LONDON (ShareCast) - A poor housing report sent Wall Street south midmorning, although buyers have returned to leave the Dow with just a small loss at lunchtime.
Existing home sales rose 2.4% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.77m,
from a downwardly revised 4.66m in April, but that was short of expectations.
Economists had predicted the National Association of Realtors' would report an increase to about 4.82m.
Investors are also anxious to hear from the Federal Reserve, which is due to announce the outcome of its two-day policy meeting tomorrow.
Across the markets, the Dow Jones (news) is down 5 at 8,333, the tech loaded Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ: news) has eased 1 point to 1,765, while the broader S&P 500 is up 1 at 894.
In company news, Boeing (NYSE: BA - news) is the biggest blue chip casualty, down 9%, on news that initial test flights of its new 787 jet have been delayed again. It had expected to take off in late 2007.
Grocery store chain operator Kroger Co (NYSE: KR - news) 's saw first quarter profit jump to $435.1m, compared with $386m in the same period last year. Sales were $22.8bn, down slightly from $23.1bn last year.
Tech giant Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL - news) will report earnings after the close, expected to have earned 44 cents per share after earning 47 cents a year ago.
Meanwhile, also in focus will be the demand for Treasury Department's auction of $60bn in two-year notes.
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