Wall Street To Open Lower Ahead Of Data; Hot Stocks: DG, FLWS, CWEI, PANL Reports Hotstocksforyou.com

U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street as investors show caution after yesterday's rally and await economic data and minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee.

On the economic front, Case-Shiller data on home prices for June is due at 9:00 a.m. EST, which will be followed by the Conference Board's August consumer-confidence figures. At 2:00 p.m. EST, the minutes of the August 9 Federal Open Market Committee meeting will be released.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow industrial average futures were trading lower by 63 points, or 0.55 percent, to 11,454. Nasdaq 100 futures were down 11 points, or 0.50 percent, to 2,209. Standard & Poor's 500 futures were trading lower by 8.25 points, or 0.68 percent, to 1,199.75 today.

Hot Stocks of the Day: DG, FLWS, CWEI, PANL

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG : 35.94, 2.15) today reported second quarter FY 2011 net income of $146 million, or $0.42 per share, compared with net income of $141 million, or $0.41 per share in the second quarter FY 2010. Sales for the quarter increased 11.2 percent to $3.58 billion, compared with $3.21 billion in the same quarter last year. DG was trading higher by 6.21 percent to $35.89 in pre-market trading today.

1-800-Flowers.com Inc. (Nasdaq: FLWS : 2.65, -0.09) today said fourth quarter FY 2011 total sales increased by 13.1 percent to $187.1 million, compared with $165.4 million in the prior year period. Net income for the quarter was a loss of $8,000, or $0.00 per share, compared with a net loss of $4.95 million, or $0.08 per share, in the same quarter last year. FLWS last traded at $2.74, up 11.84 percent, on Monday.

Clayton Williams Energy Inc. (Nasdaq: CWEI : 57.01, -0.89) revised lower its 2011 financial forecast for exploration and development as well as by an unspecified amount its expected oil and gas production for this year.

CWEI last traded at $57.90, up 6.34 percent, on Monday.

Shares of Universal Display Corporation (Nasdaq:PANL : 51.35, 0.13) were trading higher by 9.82 percent to $56.25 in pre-market trading today after the company said it had entered into a technology-licensing deal with Panasonic Idemitsu OLED Light Co.

Global Markets: FTSE, CAC40, DAX, Nikkei 225, Straits Times, Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite Index, BSE 30

Asian markets closed mostly higher today. Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed up by 339.06 points, or 1.71 percent, to 20,204.17; India's BSE 30 closed up by 260.42 points, or 1.59 percent, to 16,676.75; and Japan's Nikkei 225 closed higher by 102.55 points, or 1.16 percent, to 8,953.90. Among the losers were China's Shanghai Composite Index with losses of 9.82 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,566.59. Singapore's Straits Times remained closed Tuesday.

European indexes were trading mixed mid-day Tuesday. Britain's FTSE 100 was trading higher at 5,250.60, adding 120.68 points, or 2.35 percent. Germany's DAX was trading down by 41.78 points, or 0.74 percent, to 5,628.29; and France's CAC40 was trading lower by 2.80 points, or 0.09 percent, to 3,151.40.

Oil above $87 mark amid improving US consumer demand

Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil was lower by 0.11 points, or 13 percent, to $87.16 per barrel. Gold stood at 1,794.30, up 5.80 points, or 0.32 percent, on Tuesday.

In the currency market, the euro was trading lower by 0.77 percent to 1.4402 against the U.S. dollar. The dollar was trading higher at ¥76.8650, up 0.01 percent against the Japanese yen. The British pound is trading lower by 0.77 percent to $1.6289 against the dollar on Tuesday.

On Monday, Wall Street closed higher. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up by 254.71 points, or 2.26 percent, to settle at 11,539.25, over Friday's close. The Nasdaq ended higher by 82.26 points, or 3.32 percent, at 2,562.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 ended higher by 33.28 points, or 2.83 percent, at 1,210.08.