Premarket roundup: Housing, chip equipment makers

Among the premarket stories for Tuesday, Nov. 11, from AP Financial News:

NEW YORK (AP) _ Citigroup Inc. is stepping up to help stem its foreclosures, but homebuilders are still reeling from the ongoing housing slump exacerbated by the credit crisis.

NEW YORK (AP) _ Deutsche Bank analyst Steve O'Rourke said in a Monday note that semiconductor equipment makers, which have been cutting jobs over the past few months, may be planning "much more substantial layoffs in the coming weeks."

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ U.S. natural gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp. announced it would sell a large stake of its assets to an energy company based in Norway, tacking on another sale in a series of stake sales over the last two months.

NEW YORK (AP) _ Shares of Optimer Pharmaceuticals surged in premarket trading after the company said its developing gastrointestinal infection treatment was more effective than a potential competitor in a late-stage study.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ An analyst raised his profit estimates for Fluor Corp. Tuesday, saying the engineering and construction company can "continue to deliver solid earnings even in a slowing global economy."