US midday: Stocks off slightly
Feb 22, 2012
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-Revisions to existing home sales data are largely offsetting -Barclays
Dow Jones Industrial: -0.14%
Nasdaq Composite: -0.35%
S&P 500: -0.20%
The major US equity averages are still trading slightly lower, following a brief foray into positive territory by the Dow Jones Industrials earlier on. That on the back of continued doubts over Greece and what at first glance appeared to be weaker than expected existing home sales data out this afternoon. Nonetheless, economists at Barclays Capital think otherwise as regards the housing data.
Of possible interest as well however, some market commentary is calling attention to the recent drop in the Dow Jones Transportation Average as a potential harbinger of a correction to come in stocks.
In the meantime, news on the corporate front looks a tad mixed.
A particularly large drag on sentiment at the moment is coming from the sharp drop in shares of Dell after the PC manufacturer offered lower than expected sales guidance for the current quarter.
Clothes retailer TJX has announced a $1.3bn share repurchase program, along with an increase in its dividend policy. The company reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of 62 cents, a big jump from the 42 cents reported the year before, and bang in line with estimates.
Quarterly results out from Toll Brothers and Dollar Tree have come in lower than forecast by analysts.
Newspaper publisher Gannet on the other hand is surging after announcing that it will more than double its quarterly dividend to 20 cents a share, from 8 cents before.
Acting as a backdrop, President Obama is said to be preparing a reduction in the corporate tax rate to 28% from 35%, while removing tax breaks for companies to make up for lost revenue.
From a sector stand-point, the best performers now are: oil equipment (2.02%), oil services (1.56%) and gold mining (0.79%).
MACROECONOMY
Existing home sales rose to a 4.57m annualized rate in January (Consensus: 4.66m). The previous month´s reading has been revised down to a 4.38m rate, from a previous estimate of 4.61m). Barclays Capital however believes that it is an "up beat" report, and highlights that "revisions to previous months were generally small and broadly offsetting."
Comparable retail chain-store sales rose at a 3.0% week-on-week pace according to a survey from ICSC.
OTHER MARKETS
Front month West Texas crude futures are now falling 0.463% to the $106.25 mark in NYMEX trading.
10 year US Treasuries are rising by 10/32 dollars, with yields at 2.02%.
S&P 500 - Risers
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $61.76 +7.37%
Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) $21.72 +6.68%
Gannett Co. Inc. (GCI) $15.70 +4.81%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $59.07 +3.79%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $29.56 +3.76%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $23.53 +3.66%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $38.17 +3.08%
Teradata Corp. (TDC) $64.10 +3.07%
National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) $86.86 +2.70%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $52.30 +2.67%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $37.07 -12.26%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $109.38 -6.83%
Dell Inc. (DELL) $17.19 -5.60%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $36.04 -3.61%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $40.88 -3.54%
SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) $22.28 -3.17%
Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW) $9.24 -3.14%
Comerica Inc. (CMA) $29.80 -3.09%
Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG) $20.33 -3.01%
Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) $25.03 -2.95%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $115.81 +0.70%
Boeing Co. (BA) $76.16 +0.58%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $21.32 +0.45%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $86.92 +0.40%
3M Co. (MMM) $87.92 +0.37%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $64.65 +0.36%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $69.00 +0.26%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $84.14 +0.21%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $193.73 +0.17%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $10.42 +0.08%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $58.70 -2.28%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $26.65 -1.88%
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) $38.00 -1.48%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $29.00 -1.19%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $8.02 -1.11%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $41.19 -0.91%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $20.17 -0.91%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $38.13 -0.86%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $107.60 -0.75%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $46.61 -0.66%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $48.51 +8.55%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $61.76 +7.37%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $29.56 +3.76%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $23.53 +3.66%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $52.30 +2.67%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $133.66 +2.31%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $52.87 +1.58%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $28.12 +1.55%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $12.86 +1.18%
Infosys Technologies Ltd. (INFY) $60.19 +1.09%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Dell Inc. (DELL) $17.19 -5.60%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $40.88 -3.54%
Logitech International S.A. (LOGI) $8.60 -3.48%
Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) $24.60 -2.65%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $26.65 -1.88%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $27.39 -1.62%
Nll Holdings Inc. (NIHD) $23.79 -1.61%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $14.52 -1.53%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $34.67 -1.34%
News Corp. Class A (NWSA) $19.29 -1.28%
AB
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