| Ecomomic Reports Fall Flat On Market Consumed With Weak Quarterly Reports |
| Oct-26-2012 |
| Keywords: stocks, gdp, consumer confidence, earnings, apple, amazon |
Stocks today finish relatively flat as good news on the economy falls flat on a market consumed with lackluster corporate profits and revenues.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3.5 points on the day. The Nasdaq Composite finished 2 points higher. The S&P 500 ended down a point.
Those lackluster results capped what was a disappointing week for stocks as the market digested a rash of weak corporate profit reports. The Dow finished the week down 1.8%. The S&P 500 fell 1.5%. The Nasdaq Composite lost a more modest 0.59%.
The market however did get some good news on the economy. The Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy grew at an annualized pace of 2% in the third quarter, better than estimates of 1.9% and the 1.3% growth rate in the second quarter. Federal spending, however, jumped by the most since 2010 and accounted for 32% of the growth reported last quarter.
The Reuters and University of Michigan report on consumer confidence also delivered some welcomed news to investors. While the final reading on consumer confidence this month came it slightly weaker than expected, the gauge reached 82.6, the highest level in 5-years.
Those reports helped to improve the mood of investors disappointed with quarterly earnings reports from Apple and Amazon.com.
Apple, the world's most valuable stock, finished down .9% after reporting a 24% jump in profits, earning $8.67 a share, but still coming up short of estimates looking for $8.75 a share. The iPhone maker however did top revenue targets with sales just shy of $36 billion.
Amazon.com on the other hand managed to finish the session up 6.87% despite its miss on both earnings and revenue targets. The online retailer posted a wider than expected quarterly loss of $274 million on weaker than expected revenue of $13.81 billion.
Dow component Merck ended the session with a .32% loss despite topping quarterly targets and reaffirming its full-year outlook.
Banks a drag on the market today. Bank of America and JP Morgan chase weighed on the blue chip index with losses of more than 1%.
Citigroup's stock fell 2.2% after it was fined $2 million by Massachusetts' regulators. The fine coming as a result of a junior research analyst disclosing confidential information about the Facebook IPO.
The shares of UBS down .38% on the day. Reports claimed the bank is looking slash as many as 10,000 jobs.
Action in the commodities trading pits rather tame today. Gold slipped $1.10 to close at $1,711.90 an ounce. However the precious metal logged declines for a third straight week, down .7% from its closing a week ago.
Crude oil prices ended the day modestly higher. The December crude contract gaining 23 cents on the day, settling at $86.28 but logged a more than 4% drop on the week. |
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Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 1:00 PM Email to a friend |
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