US midday: Dow remains around 18-month high
Mar 18, 2010
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The Dow is still hovering around its 18-month high, but the S&P and Nasdaq are lower. Data on inflation and jobless claims has made investors believe that interest rates will not rise in the short-term.
Dow Jones added 30 points at 10,733 last night. The index has now risen for seven straight days and was last this high on 1 October 2008.
The Dow is currently up 30 points at 10,759. The Nasdaq is slightly lower at 2,389, while the S&P 500 is nearly two down at 1,165.
On the economic front, the number of Americans filing initial claims for jobless benefits fell last week to 457,000 from 462,000 the week before, though analysts expected a sharper fall to 455,000.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) was unchanged in February after rising 0.2% the previous month, according to figures from the Labor Department.
Boeing helped to boost the Dow. The aeroplane manufacturer is the best performer in the index so far this year.
Du Pont says that it expects its earnings to grow by 20% a year between 2009 and 2012.
Video games retailer GameStop reported slightly better than expected fourth quarter earnings but that was enough to make it the best performer in the S&P.
Sports giant Nike reported doubled third quarter profits.
Elsewhere on the earnings front, package firm FedEx saw third quarter net income jump 146% to $239m, or 76 cents a share.
Health insurers gained on the back of clarity on the timing of the vote on the US healthcare reform bill. Coventry Health Care and Cigna Corp are both higher.
Smart phone maker Palm is due to update the market after the closing bell tonight.
S&P 500 - Risers
Gamestop Corp. (GME) $21.38 +7.65%
Nike Inc. Class B (NKE) $74.56 +5.19%
Moody's Corp. (MCO) $29.86 +3.90%
Aetna Inc. (AET) $32.97 +3.88%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $40.29 +3.57%
Coventry Hlth Care (CVH) $25.86 +3.32%
Cigna Corp. (CI) $35.90 +3.07%
Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) $3.72 +3.05%
Wellpoint Inc. (WLP) $63.77 +2.95%
Humana Inc. (HUM) $49.55 +2.74%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Marshall & Ilsley (MI) $7.92 -5.04%
Nabors Inds Inc. (NBR) $20.68 -4.59%
Southwestern Energy (SWN) $41.03 -4.49%
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (HBAN) $5.51 -4.38%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $23.96 -4.35%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $17.34 -4.20%
Keycorp (KEY) $7.57 -4.18%
Baker Hughes International (BHI) $49.72 -4.13%
Zions Bancorporation (ZION) $22.28 -3.92%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $40.01 -3.87%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Boeing Co. (BA) $70.48 +1.59%
Du Pont E I De Nemours and Co. (DD) $37.02 +1.45%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $53.69 +1.33%
3M Co. (MMM) $83.22 +1.27%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $52.73 +0.96%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $128.65 +0.70%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $30.35 +0.66%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $64.99 +0.52%
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) $29.85 +0.51%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $66.69 +0.47%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Bank Of America Corp. (BAC) $17.07 -1.16%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $14.36 -0.69%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $59.85 -0.61%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $43.53 -0.59%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $32.37 -0.47%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $22.15 -0.42%
American Express Inc. (AXP) $40.88 -0.32%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $63.85 -0.25%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $55.79 -0.23%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $33.71 -0.13%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Ads (TEVA) $62.20 +3.77%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $40.29 +3.57%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $12.10 +2.63%
Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS) $18.61 +2.62%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $19.47 +2.10%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $48.42 +2.09%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $58.25 +1.43%
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $43.60 +1.11%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $17.31 +1.11%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $22.34 +1.09%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $17.34 -4.20%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $52.17 -3.32%
Foster Wheeler AG (FWLT) $26.83 -2.44%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $36.53 -1.99%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $25.09 -1.84%
Logitech International S.A. (LOGI) $16.75 -1.76%
Joy Global Inc. (JOYG) $56.12 -1.61%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $41.72 -1.60%
Maxim Integrated Prod Comm Stk (MXIM) $19.28 -1.54%
Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) $17.18 -1.46%
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