Stock futures signal dip amid economic gloom

Highlights:

* At 5:26 a.m. EST, futures for the S&P 500 futures, Dow Jones futures and Nasdaq 100 were down between 0.6 percent and 0.9 percent.

* The Dow fell for a fifth straight day on Tuesday, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended higher as rising oil prices lifted energy shares and biotechnology companies gained.

* The U.S. Labor Department issues import and export prices for December and the Commerce Department issues its December retail sales report at 8:30 a.m. EST.

* November business inventories data, due at 10 a.m. EST, could show a steady build as consumers pay down debt and try to rebuild savings.

* Home BancShares to report fourth-quarter results. The financial holding company posted third-quarter profit that beat Wall Street estimates. Analysts are expecting a profit of 27 cents a share in the fourth quarter.

The company has also received a preliminary nod to participate in the U.S. Treasury's funding program.

* Citigroup slipped 1.4 percent to $5.82 following the bank's announcement it would exchange its Smith Barney unit for a stake in a joint venture with Morgan Stanley .

* Shares of Sterling Financial Corp fell 3.9 percent to $6.20 after the bell on Tuesday on the company's expectation it would report a loss for both the fourth quarter and 2008.

* Yahoo Inc reversed earlier losses and rose 2.9 percent to $12.41 after the bell after the Internet company named Carol Bartz as chief executive officer.

* Bunge Ltd fell 2.4 percent to $47 after the bell on Tuesday as the company lowered its 2008 earnings expectations.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash)

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