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Stocks Mixed As Investors Seek Bargains
By MICHAEL J. MARTINEZ
The Associated Press
Thursday, January 29, 2004; 11:24 AM
NEW YORK - Stocks were mixed in choppy trading Thursday as investors sought blue chip bargains one day after the Federal Reserve's interest rate statement sent shares tumbling. Technology stocks extended their losses for a third day.
In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 16.66, or 0.2 percent, at 10,485.03. Broader stock indicators were lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 0.41, or 0.04 percent, at 1,128.07, and the Nasdaq composite index was down 21.16, or 1 percent, at 2,056.21.
Many on Wall Street looked for signs that the previous session's selling, marked by a 141-point drop in the Dow, was an excuse to lock in profits rather than the beginning of a larger selling trend. But the trading volatility that marks most earnings seasons persisted.
"We definitely had a big sell-off yesterday that feels a bit overdone," said Peter Dunay, chief market strategist at Wall Street Access. "It's the craziness of expectations. We had very strong earnings, but that was already built into the market. If there is a pullback, it will temper expectations and let the economy, which is pretty strong, catch up to the expectations."
New economic data from the government did not provide a clear picture of the pace and health of the recovery. First-time jobless claims for the week fell by 1,000 to the lowest level since the end of December. However, wages and benefits grew by only 0.7 percent, the lowest monthly rise in a year.
Exxon Mobil Corp. posted a record yearly profit in 2003 and beat analysts' estimates for the fourth quarter by 10 cents per share. Shares jumped 56 cents to $41.37 on the news.
Eli Lilly & Co.'s earnings matched analysts' expectations as the pharmaceutical giant posted a 1 percent growth in profits from a year ago. Lilly was up 62 cents to $67.54.
Verizon Communications Inc., burdened with nearly $3 billion in one-time expenses due to voluntary job buyouts, nonetheless beat Wall Street expectations by 2 cents per share. The telecommunications giant was down 27 cents to $36.49.
Halliburton Co. climbed 51 cents to $29.92 after the company announced that it took a $1.1 billion charge related to asbestos lawsuits. The oilfield services firm managed to beat analysts' estimates by 2 cents per share without the one-time expenses.
RealNetworks fell 27 cents to $6.17. The company was expected to report earnings after the session. Wall Street expected a loss of 3 cents per share.
Declining issues slightly outnumbered advancers on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was at 561.56 million shares traded, compared with 456.75 million shares at the same point Wednesday.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 5.63, or 1 percent, at 578.28.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.7 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 1.1 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.1 percent, and France's CAC-40 was down 1.2 percent.
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