Stocks Mixed As Earnings Approach
Stocks were narrowly mixed Tuesday as investors refrained from major moves ahead of first-quarter earnings reports that begin with Alcoa Inc.'s results after the closing bell.
The aluminum producer is expected to post a profit of 75 cents per share. Wall Street looks to results from the component of the Dow Jones industrial average to not only gauge the pace of earnings for the quarter but as a proxy for the health of the overall economy.
Stocks also showed little overall movement Monday as investors awaited news of how companies fared during the first quarter, and also their expectations for the coming quarters. In the fourth quarter, Standard & Poor's 500 companies snapped an 18-quarter streak of double-digit profit gains, and Wall Street expects profit growth to remain in the single digits for the first three months of the year. In midday trading, the Dow fell 13.17, or 0.10 percent, to 12,555.97.
Broader stock indicators were slightly higher. The S&P 500 edged up 0.44, or 0.03 percent, to 1,445.05, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 2.75, or 0.11 percent, to 2,471.93.
Bonds continued to recover, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.71 percent from 4.75 percent late Monday. Gold prices rose, while the dollar was mixed against other major currencies after the United States filed two complaints against China at the World Trade Organization over copyright policy. The currency is at a two-year low against the euro.
Oil prices rose after selling off Monday following doubts about Iran's comments about its uranium-enrichment achievements. A barrel of light, sweet crude for delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 36 cents to $61.87. Investors were also awaiting minutes from the Fed's most recent meeting at which it left short-term interest rates unchanged for the sixth straight time. In corporate news, Dow Chemical Co. fell $1.23, or 2.6 percent, to $45.40 after the chemical and plastics maker said it has had no discussions about a leveraged buyout. Citigroup Inc. rose 52 cents to $52.10 ahead of a major restructuring announcement, where some 26,000 workers will be reassigned or their jobs eliminated, according to a report in The New York Times. D.R. Horton Inc., the nation's largest homebuilder by deliveries, said its second-quarter sales orders fell 37 percent, led by even steeper declines in California and the Southwest. Shares fell 33 cents to $21.71.
Adolor Corp. fell $5, or 57.3 percent, to $3.72 after the biopharmaceutical company stopped clinical studies and withdrew an application for a constipation-relief drug, leading to a series of downgrades.
Shares of drug maker Mylan Laboratories Inc. jumped 65 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $21.85 after the company raised its profit forecast, citing continued strength in its generics business and new product sales.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 9 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 551.4 million shares.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 2.61, or 0.32 percent, to 814.25.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 0.45 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.32 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.94 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.43 percent.
Source: AP
The aluminum producer is expected to post a profit of 75 cents per share. Wall Street looks to results from the component of the Dow Jones industrial average to not only gauge the pace of earnings for the quarter but as a proxy for the health of the overall economy.
Stocks also showed little overall movement Monday as investors awaited news of how companies fared during the first quarter, and also their expectations for the coming quarters. In the fourth quarter, Standard & Poor's 500 companies snapped an 18-quarter streak of double-digit profit gains, and Wall Street expects profit growth to remain in the single digits for the first three months of the year. In midday trading, the Dow fell 13.17, or 0.10 percent, to 12,555.97.
Broader stock indicators were slightly higher. The S&P 500 edged up 0.44, or 0.03 percent, to 1,445.05, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 2.75, or 0.11 percent, to 2,471.93.
Bonds continued to recover, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.71 percent from 4.75 percent late Monday. Gold prices rose, while the dollar was mixed against other major currencies after the United States filed two complaints against China at the World Trade Organization over copyright policy. The currency is at a two-year low against the euro.
Oil prices rose after selling off Monday following doubts about Iran's comments about its uranium-enrichment achievements. A barrel of light, sweet crude for delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 36 cents to $61.87. Investors were also awaiting minutes from the Fed's most recent meeting at which it left short-term interest rates unchanged for the sixth straight time. In corporate news, Dow Chemical Co. fell $1.23, or 2.6 percent, to $45.40 after the chemical and plastics maker said it has had no discussions about a leveraged buyout. Citigroup Inc. rose 52 cents to $52.10 ahead of a major restructuring announcement, where some 26,000 workers will be reassigned or their jobs eliminated, according to a report in The New York Times. D.R. Horton Inc., the nation's largest homebuilder by deliveries, said its second-quarter sales orders fell 37 percent, led by even steeper declines in California and the Southwest. Shares fell 33 cents to $21.71.
Adolor Corp. fell $5, or 57.3 percent, to $3.72 after the biopharmaceutical company stopped clinical studies and withdrew an application for a constipation-relief drug, leading to a series of downgrades.
Shares of drug maker Mylan Laboratories Inc. jumped 65 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $21.85 after the company raised its profit forecast, citing continued strength in its generics business and new product sales.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 9 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 551.4 million shares.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 2.61, or 0.32 percent, to 814.25.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 0.45 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.32 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.94 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.43 percent.
Source: AP
posted by Stock Administrator @ 12:30 PM
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