Stock Market News for October 23, 2012 - Market News
October 23 2012 - 5:06AM
Zacks
Benchmarks rebounded from a heavy
slump in the final hour of trading and finished with paltry gains
on Monday. The Dow and S&P 500 ended almost flat, whereas the
Nasdaq had a decent run. With investors worried about how sluggish
global economic conditions are affecting corporates, benchmarks are
spending most of their days in the red. Meanwhile, Caterpillar
managed to beat analysts’ estimates on its bottom line, but its top
line fell short. The technology sector was the leading gainer among
the S&P 500 industry groups.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
(DJI) rose 0.02% to close the day at 13,345.89. The Standard &
Poor 500 (S&P 500) climbed 0.04% to finish yesterday’s trading
session at 1,433.82. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index added
0.4% to end at 3,016.96. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX)
lost 2.6% to settle at 16.62. Consolidated volumes on the New York
Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq were roughly 5.8
billion shares, lower than the year-to-date daily average of 6.52
billion shares. The decliners on the New York Stock Exchange
outpaced advancing stocks; as for 46% stocks that gained, 50%
stocks closed lower.
Benchmarks struggled to find a
specific direction on Monday. During mid-afternoon, the blue-chip
index had fallen by as much as 108 points before rallying in the
final hour. Benchmarks rallied in the final session, despite the
absence of any major news that could affect them. Investors were
worried about corporate revenues and macroeconomic headwinds have
already had a negative impact on certain industry heavyweights.
Last Friday, markets were battered
following weak corporate results. Microsoft Corporation, McDonald's
Corporation and General Electric Company had reported discouraging
results and almost all of them blamed certain macroeconomic
headwinds. Shares of Microsoft, McDonald's and General Electric had
slumped 2.9%, 4.5% and 3.4%, respectively last Friday. Also,
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) had announced late on
Thursday that its revenue slumped 10.2% sequentially and 24.9% year
over year. The negative sentiment spilled on to Monday as well and
affected the markets.
On Monday, corporate results
continued to be weak. Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS), V.F. Corporation
(NYSE:VFC) and SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI) posted their
quarterly results which came in below analysts’ estimates. The
stocks tumbled 1.7%, 4.4% and 3.5%, respectively.
Meanwhile, Caterpillar Inc.
(NYSE:CAT) posted quarterly earnings that surpassed analysts’
estimates. However, the industry bellwether’s revenue fell short of
expectations. Also, Caterpillar slashed its 2012 forecasts, citing
weak global demand. It was the second time that Caterpillar slashed
estimates this year. Nonetheless, Caterpillar’s stock surged 1.5%,
recovering from its initial losses.
Meanwhile, technology bellwether
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) jumped 4.0% after announcing that the
company will release a smaller iPad on Tuesday. The smaller iPad
will compete with Amazon.com, Inc’s. (NASDAQ:AMZN) Kindle Fire and
Google Inc’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Nexus 7. This was Apple’s biggest gain
in almost five months. The company is schedule to report its
earnings on Thursday. Meanwhile, investors awaited results from
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Texas Instruments Incorporated
(NASDAQ:TXN).
The 4% jump in Apple also helped
Nasdaq finish in the green. Also, the technology sector was guided
back to the positive zone after three days of consecutive losses.
The Technology SPDR (ETF) jumped 0.7%. Stocks such as
Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Digi
International Inc., Synaptics, Incorporated and EMC Corporation
(NYSE:EMC) surged 1.6%, 0.4%, 3.0%, 1.9% and 1.9%,
respectively.
The Energy Select Sector SPDR was
the major loser, slipping 0.3%. Stocks such as Chevron Corporation
(NYSE:CVX), BP plc (NYSE:BP), Marathon Oil Corporation, Suncor
Energy Inc. and ConocoPhillips lost 0.6%, 1.0%, 1.6%, 1.3% and
0.7%, respectively.
APPLE INC (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report
ADV MICRO DEV (AMD): Free Stock Analysis Report
AMAZON.COM INC (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report
BP PLC (BP): Free Stock Analysis Report
CATERPILLAR INC (CAT): Free Stock Analysis Report
CHEVRON CORP (CVX): Free Stock Analysis Report
DELL INC (DELL): Free Stock Analysis Report
EMC CORP -MASS (EMC): Free Stock Analysis Report
GOOGLE INC-CL A (GOOG): Free Stock Analysis Report
HASBRO INC (HAS): Free Stock Analysis Report
HEWLETT PACKARD (HPQ): Free Stock Analysis Report
SUNTRUST BKS (STI): Free Stock Analysis Report
TEXAS INSTRS (TXN): Free Stock Analysis Report
V F CORP (VFC): Free Stock Analysis Report
YAHOO! INC (YHOO): Free Stock Analysis Report
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