US close: Late rally not enough
US stocks rallied near the close but the top 30 still ended the day in the red despite Hewlett Packard buying Electronic Data Systems for $13.9bn in cash.
Record crude oil prices had caused the early selling with the price per barrel topping $125. Banks and other financials also had a rough day.
Dow Jones closed down 44 at 12,832. Nasdaq gained 6 to close at 2,495 and the S&P 500 was little changed at 1,403.
The Commerce Department said April retail sales fell 0.2%, as expected, having risen 0.2% in March. Excluding cars, April retail sales rose ahead of expectations, suggesting that Americans are still nervy about making big purchases.
Ben Bernanke said the financial markets have improved thanks to the Fed's recent liquidity measures but added that the environment is still "far from normal."
Elsewhere, the 1.8% rise in import prices in April was largely in line with forecasts, while the National Association of Realtors said single-family home prices fell 7.7% in the first quarter.
On the company front, HP had a busy day all round. Aside from the deal with EDS, it also said second-quarter results will top forecasts. Its shares fell even so.
Yahoo was another big tech gainer on reports activist investor Carl Icahn may use his recently built-up position in Yahoo to try to force a deal with Microsoft.
Retail giant Wal-Mart fell after it gave second-quarter earnings guidance below most current forecasts despite a decent first quarter.
Banks had a tough day. American Express, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup all fell in sympathy after Bank of America cautioned that its customers are under the cosh and that the credit environment remains difficult.
Staples raised its hostile bid to acquire Dutch rival Corporate Express to $2.27bn.
S&P 500 - Risers
Constellation Brd A (STZ) $21.02 +11.69%
Fluor Cp (New) (FLR) $191.03 +8.69%
Peabody Energy Corp (BTU) $73.20 +6.40%
Jacobs Engineerng Gp (JEC) $93.94 +5.65%
Mcgraw Hill Cos The (MHP) $43.73 +5.40%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $26.56 +5.15%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Ambac Finl Grp Inc (ABK) $4.00 -7.62%
(Article continues below)Advertisement
Hewlett Packard Co (HPQ) $44.27 -5.47%
M B I A Inc (MBI) $9.32 -5.38%
State Street Cp (STT) $70.84 -5.13%
T J X Cos Inc (TJX) $30.65 -4.64%
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (JAVA) $12.75 -4.14%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Amer Intl Group Inc (AIG) $39.15 +2.05%
United Tech (UTX) $74.92 +1.34%
AT&T Inc. (T) $39.26 +1.31%
Alcoa Inc (AA) $42.12 +1.23%
International Business Machines (IBM) $126.58 +1.07%
Boeing Co (BA) $85.08 +0.87%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Hewlett Packard Co (HPQ) $44.27 -5.47%
Jp Morgan Chase Co (JPM) $45.48 -3.34%
Wal Mart Stores (WMT) $56.65 -3.06%
General Motors (GM) $20.20 -2.70%
Citigroup Inc (C) $23.03 -2.58%
Bk Of America Cp (BAC) $36.61 -2.22%
