* Investors worry about deepening global slump
* Alcoa slashes capacity as global demand wanes
* Starbucks, Citigroup drop before the bell
* AmEx to become bank holding company
* For up-to-the-minute market news, please click on
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(Recasts first paragraph, updates prices)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Nov 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks headed for a
sharply lower open on Tuesday on concerns that the global
economic downturn is deepening.
The diminishing appetite for riskier assets sent stocks
sliding across Asia overnight, to be followed by losses in
Europe of 2 percent or more.
In the latest sign of the fallout from the economic
upheaval, Chinese import growth slowed in October and inflation
fell to a 17-month low as demand cooled. For details, see
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On the corporate front, Starbucks Corp <SBUX.O> cut its
plans for new international coffee shops and effectively cut
its 2009 forecast after posting a steeper-than-expected slide
in fourth-quarter profit. []
Additionally, aluminum producer Alcoa Inc <AA.N>
underscored the impact of faltering global demand by slashing a
further 350,000 tonnes of aluminum-making capacity worldwide.
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"There isn't necessarily any news that makes you feel more
bullish," said Rick Meckler, president of investment firm
LibertyView Capital Management in New York.
"The only news that will likely push the market the other
way is news that indicates on the part of companies that
earnings streams are OK. Unfortunately the number of companies
that can show that is probably slim."
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> dropped 17 points and were below
fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into
account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the
contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures <DJc1> declined
157 points, and Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> futures slid 21.25 points.
Trading volumes will likely be thin, with other market
participants away and the bond market closed for Veterans Day
holiday.
Faltering Chinese demand is a big blow to sentiment as
investors had hoped that China would continue to see a roaring
economy to mitigate the impact of faltering growth in the
developed world.
Starbucks shares were down 10.3 percent at $9.15 before the
bell.
Alcoa shares fell nearly 5 percent to $11.25 before the
bell. The aluminum producer, a Dow component, said it needed to
make the cuts across its global smelting system because demand
for aluminum was waning.
Shares of Citigroup <C.N> , another Dow component, slid 1.7
percent to $11.02 in pre-market trade after the U.S. bank said
it will rework $20 billion worth of mortgages to stem home
foreclosures. []
American Express Co <AXP.N> , the fourth-largest U.S.
credit card issuer, is also among the stocks to watch after it
won approval to become a bank holding company, giving it access
to capital from the government. The stock was little changed.
In Monday's trading investors fretted about the impact of a
faltering economy on the outlooks of a raft of companies from
General Motors <GM.N> to Goldman Sachs <GS.N>, causing the
market to end lower.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
