Stock Markets | Stock Market Trading | Stock Market Investors

By Chris Dieterich And Christian Berthelsen NEW YORK?U.S. stocks fell after the opening bell, jeopardizing the market’s chances for a fourth-straight weekly gain, after investors were disappointed by the most recent reading on domestic economic growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declined 41 points, or 0.3%, to 12643. The Dow closed down 22 points, or 0.2%, on Thursday, but had been up as much as 85 points at its intraday high of 12842, which was the highest seen since May 2.The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 2.3 points, or 0.2%, to 1316 and the Nasdaq Composite Index edged lower by 0.5, or 0.03%, to 2804. The nation’s gross domestic product?the value of all goods and services produced?grew at an annual rate of 2.8% between October and December, up from 1.8% growth in the third quarter. The reading fell short of expectations for 3% growth, though the data showed the U.S. economy grew at the fastest pace since the second quarter of 2010. “After such a deep recession, we should be in the middle of a sharp recovery,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel, in Charlottesville, Va. “But this is a slow, grinding-out kind of recovery, and momentum can be derailed by one bad data point.” Due up later Friday at 9:55 a.m. EST are data on consumer sentiment for January. Economists forecast a slight improvement. Materials were the only sector in the S&P 500 gaining ground in early trading Friday. The consumer sector led the decline. Chevron fell the most among blue chips, down 2.6%. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.5%, with investors wary as the cost of insuring Portugal’s debt against default climbed to a fresh record Friday. Elsewhere, there were signs of progress. European Union Commissioner Olli Rehn said Greece was close to a deal with private creditors to restructure its debt, while the Italian Treasury sold the full amount of debt at its planned bill sales Friday. The debt sale boosted confidence ahead of a longer-dated auction Monday that will provide a more accurate gauge of demand for the country’s bonds. Asian bourses were mostly higher, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rising 0.3%. Japan’s Nikkei was flat. Gold futures were down 0.3% at $1,722.5 an ounce, while crude-oil futures were little changed at $99.62 a barrel. The U.S. dollar lost ground against the euro and the yen. In corporate news, shares of Procter & Gamble fell 1.4% after the blue-chip consumer-products company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that exceeded forecasts, but lowered its full-year outlook citing unfavorable exchange rates. Ford Motor lost 5.7% after the auto maker’s fourth-quarter earnings missed estimates, as a result of slower sales in Europe and production losses caused by the flooding in Thailand, although revenue came in above expectations. Starbucks fell 2.4% after the coffee seller’s fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue exceeded expectations, but its second-quarter earnings outlook was below current forecasts.Juniper Networks slumped 9.6% after the company missed fourth-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, and provided a downbeat outlook for the current quarter. Riverbed Technology shed 20% after the maker of networking gear topped fourth-quarter expectations, but provided a disappointing current-quarter outlook.Seagate Technology advanced 3.5% after the hard-disk drive maker raised its quarterly dividend by 39 cents a share and increased its stock repurchase program by $1 billion.KLA-Tencor rose 3% after semiconductor equipment maker reported fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue at the high end of its previously provided outlook.Solutia soared 42% after the specialty-chemicals company said it agreed to be acquired by Eastman Chemical in a cash and stock deal valued at about $3.38 billion. Eastman Chemical climbed 9.8% and was the largest gainer on the S&P. …

View full post on SmartMoney.com: Today’s Markets

Related posts:

1. Stocks Fall By Chris Dieterich And Tomi Kilgore NEW YORK?Stocks fell after...
2. Stocks Fall at Close of Banner Month By Chris Dieterich A disappointing round of economic data weighed...
3. Stocks Fall on Weak Data By Steven Russolillo NEW YORK?U.S. stocks dropped after three straight...
4. Stocks Fall on Weak Data By Steven Russolillo NEW YORK?U.S. stocks dropped after three straight...
5. Stocks Fall on Weak Data By Steven Russolillo NEW YORK?U.S. stocks dropped after three straight...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 3:47 pm and is filed under Stock Market. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.