CORRECTED:Investors eye modest U.S. Feb growth at McDonald's

Corrects percent to percentage points

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp (MCD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) may report a bit of a bounce in U.S. February sales after a slow turn of the year, but the twin challenges of food costs and a slumping domestic economy will keep improvement modest, analysts and investors said.

The world's biggest hamburger chain is due to report global same-store sales before the bell on Monday and company watchers from Wall Street to Main Street hope improved U.S. results will put an end to speculation that previous softness -- in December particularly -- had more to do with the economy than weather.

Analysts and investors are looking for U.S. sales growth of anywhere from 1 percent to more than 4 percent from a year ago, excluding the Leap Year impact, which added a day of sales.

"I don't necessarily think the U.S. is going to be weak, but I don't think we're going to get knocked over with a big number," said Scott Rothbort, president and founder of LakeView Asset Management in New Jersey.

Deutsche Bank Securities analysts are targeting same-store sales growth of 1.5 percent in the United States, 5 percent for Europe and 5 percent for the combined Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions. Their forecast excludes the Leap Year impact, which is expected to boost results by about 4 percentage points.

"From an industry standpoint, macro indicators remain weak, with consumer confidence (the most important figure to watch, in our view) sliding to a multi-year low and disposable income growth slowing," Deutsche Bank analysts said in a client note on Thursday.

"Obviously, we'd like to see higher numbers," said Janna Sampson, co-chief investment officer at Oakbrook Investments.