LONDON (ShareCast) - Wall Street starts the week moderately weaker despite a strong showing in Tokyo and London.

The Dow-Jones has opened 68 points down at 12,674 while the S&P 500 is 9 points easier at 1,385. The NASDAQ Composite is 15 points lower at 2,397.

Chewing gum company Wrigley’s announced first quarter earnings per share that came in a penny below market expectations of 53 cents a share. The company posted earnings of $145.1m, up from $143.5m a year earlier.

Up for sale burger chain Wendy’s saw its fourth quarter earnings soar to $14.2m, or 16 cents per share, from $3m, or 3 cents a share, a year earlier. However, the comparative figures include substantial charges relating to disposals, without which Q4 2006 net income would have been $9.9m or 9 cents a share.

Despite the sharply higher earnings, the figures disappointed the market which has pencilled in earnings per share of 23 cents.

The market is holding its breath for the official response from Yahoo! to the takeover offer from Microsoft but it will have to hold it a while longer if an e-mail from the company’s founder is any guide. Chief executive officer Jerry Yang sent an email to Yahoo! staff on Friday stating "absolutely no decisions have been" taken regarding Microsoft's $44.6bn offer and that there's "certainly no integration process underway."

On Sunday, Google waded into the debate and said that Microsoft's $42bn bid could threaten the openness and innovation of the internet.

Pharmacist Walgreen said its like-for-like sales grew 3.8% in January while total sales advanced 9.6% to $4.96bn. Non-pharmacy sales grew 3.1% on a like-for-like basis while pharmacy revenues were up 4.2%.

RyanAir is in retreat. The budget airline posted a 27% decline in third quarter net profits and warned that profits may fall by as much as 50% next year.

The warning reflected higher oil prices, poor consumer demand, weaker sterling and higher costs at ‘monopoly’ airports, the airline said.

Agricultural producer Archer Daniels Midland said Monday that its second-quarter profit rose 7% on increased volumes and selling prices.

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