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Wall St set to open slightly lower, indexes near record

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Reuters NEW YORK

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street was set for a slightly lower open on Tuesday as investors hesitated to push the market higher, with major indexes near record levels.

* Data showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in March as exports rebounded, but the improvement was probably not enough to help first-quarter growth.

* Shares of Office Depot Inc jumped 10 percent in premarket trading even as it reported a quarterly loss and said it would shut at least 400 stores in the United States, hurt by competition from e-retailers, mass market chains and drugstores.

* Apple Inc shares were likely to be in the spotlight after the stock traded above $600 for the first time since late 2012. Shares were flat in premarket trading.

 

* Shares of Athenahealth Inc fell 12 percent in premarket trading, a day after hedge fund manager David Einhorn said his Greenlight Capital was betting against the company.

* S&P 500 e-mini futures were down 1.5 points and were in line with fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones e-minis lost 14 points and Nasdaq 100 e-minis lost 2 points.

* Senior management from U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca will be called before a British parliamentary committee to answer questions on a potential takeover deal. Last week, AstraZeneca rejected a 63 billion-pound ($106 billion) bid from Pfizer, but the U.S. firm is expected to pursue its efforts to acquire Britain's second-largest pharmaceutical company.

* U.S. stocks ended slightly higher on Monday as data showed strength in the services sector and Apple shares rallied, boosting the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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First Published: May 06 2014 | 6:24 PM IST

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