Market Expected to Open Lower on Korea Tensions

The U.S. equity market is expected to open lower as tensions rose in the Korean peninsula after North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells at a South Korean island. The development led to a fall in world stocks and a rise in the U.S. dollar as investors trimmed risky assets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 112 points to 11,053, the S&P futures fell 14.70 points to 1,183.20 and the Nasdaq 100 futures fell 20.75 points to 2,134. Stocks in Europe are also trading lower after tensions escalated in the Korean peninsula.

The U.S. dollar, meanwhile, is climbing as investors trim risky assets for the safety of the dollar. The euro continued to decline on worries over the debt crisis in the peripheral economies. The dollar index climbed 0.4% to 79.016, while the euro was down 0.6%.

Ahead of the bell, Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) shares are trading higher after the company reported its fourth-quarter financial results. The company posted fourth-quarter revenue of $33.3 billion, up 8% over the same period in the previous year. The company’s fourth-quarter non-GAAP operating profit climbed 10% to $4 billion. The company’s fiscal 2010 net revenue came in at $126 billion, up 10% over fiscal 2009. The company’s fiscal 2010 non-GAAP diluted earnings per share climbed 19%. Shares of Hewlett-Packard are up 2.54% to $44.35 in pre-market trading today.

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Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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