US open: More woe for tech stocks
Nov 21, 2009
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US stocks are in decline, with tech stocks once again leading the way in the wake of disappointing figures from PC vendor Dell after the bell last night.
Dell's third-quarter revenue and profits missed Wall Street projections, but sales rose 1% from the second quarter and would continue to increase in the coming months, marking three periods of sequential improvement.
Third quarter profits dropped to $337m, or 17c a share, from $727m, or 37c, a year earlier as sales shrank to $12.9bn from $15.2bn.
The share is one of the major fallers among NASDAQ listed stocks. The NASDAQ Composite index is down 16 points at 2,140, while the S&P 500 index is 5 points lower at 1,089. The narrowly based Dow Jones Industrial Average is 25 points easier at 10,306.
Gap posted a 25% rise in quarterly profit as sales rebounded at its Old Navy chain and the company recorded its highest margins in a decade. Sales at Gap stores, as well as its more upscale brand Banana Republic, remained sluggish.
Jam and preserves maker Smuckers is sharply higher after underlying earnings for the second quarter came in substantially ahead of market expectations.
In contrast, house builder D R Horton's shares suffered from subsidence after the company's fourth quarter figures revealed a loss of 73 cents per share, much worse than the market had been expecting. Sector peer Pulte Homes falls in sympathy.
S&P 500 - Risers
Smuckers J M (SJM) $56.35 +5.37%
Gamestop Corp. (GME) $25.14 +2.61%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $36.17 +2.38%
AFLAC Inc (AFL) $44.67 +1.89%
S&P 500 - Fallers
D R Horton Inc. (DHI) $10.94 -10.69%
Dell Inc. (DELL) $14.45 -8.95%
Noble Corp. (NE) $39.38 -5.56%
Cons Energy Inc. (CNX) $45.18 -4.98%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $36.17 +2.38%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $18.41 +1.66%
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) $27.29 +1.19%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $57.52 +1.13%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $63.97 +0.88%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $57.54 -1.83%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $13.04 -1.36%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $23.38 -1.29%
General Electric Co. (GE) $15.57 -1.20%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $29.50 -0.95%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Ryanair Holdings Plc Adr (RYAAY) $26.37 +1.58%
Nii Holdings Inc. (NIHD) $29.07 +1.36%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Dell Inc. (DELL) $14.45 -8.95%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $14.37 -4.64%
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