Wall Street mixed amid corporate profit worries and G20 concerns Kristina Peterson and Donna Kardos Yesalavich From: Dow Jones Newswires October 23, 2010 9:27AM
US stocks closed mixed today, as worry about corporate profit growth and the weekend G20 meeting kept pressure on the Dow.
The blue-chip measure closed down 14.01 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 11132.56.
The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index edged up 2.82, or 0.24 per cent, to 1183.08. The Nasdaq Composite rose 19.72, or 0.8 per cent, to 2479.39.
The Dow and the S&P 500 closed up for the third consecutive week, with the Dow adding 0.6 per cent over the week, while the S&P 500 gained 0.6 per cent. The Nasdaq added 0.4 per cent this week.
Traders hesitated in the US overnight as a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 industrial and emerging economies got under way in Gyeongju, South Korea. The market is watching whether officials, in preparation for a G20 summit in Seoul next month, can agree on managing exchange rates to cool what's been called a ?currency war?.
?We need some sense of direction over what's going to happen in currencies,? said Michael Farr, president of the portfolio-management firm Farr, Miller & Washington.
The US Dollar Index, tracking the US currency against a basket of six others, edged up less than 0.1 per cent.
In the meantime, traders focused on the latest earnings reports. Nearly three-quarters of the S&P 500 companies that have reported third-quarter results thus far this earnings season have topped analysts' estimates, but traders remain concerned about currencies and the weak economic backdrop.
?The profit news is constructive, but not enough to lead to a new leg higher,? said Nick Kalivas, vice president of MF Global.
The Dow's decline as it closed the trading week was led by American Express and Verizon Communications. Both reported better than expected profits, but AmEx fell $US1.24, or 3.1 per cent, to $US39.03 on concerns that it is seeing weak demand for new loans, and Verizon dropped US43 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $US32.09 on disappointment over slowing wireless subscriber growth.
Technology stocks were boosted by encouraging earnings. Riverbed Technology, which makes products that reduce the load on networks, surged $US8.40, or 18 per cent, to $US54.27, after its third-quarter revenue beat expectations and its board approved a 2-for-1 stock split.
Compuware, CA Inc. and Amazon.com also reported earnings that beat Wall Street estimates. Compuware jumped $US1.10, or 12 per cent, to $US9.92, while CA added $US1.11, or 5.1 per cent, to $US22.87, and Amazon climbed $US4.16, or 2.5 per cent, to $US169.13.
The energy sector got a big boost from Schlumberger, which climbed $US3.46, or 5.4 per cent, to $US67.77, after the oilfield-services company's third-quarter earnings more than doubled, topping analysts' expectations.
But utilities were weighed down by a drop in Exelon, which fell $US1.52, or 3.5 per cent, to $US42.00. The owner of nuclear power plants posted a 12 per cent increase in third-quarter profit, but investors were disappointed to see that operating margin narrowed as costs rose.
Chipotle Mexican Grill jumped $US26.52, or 15 per cent, to $US205.77. The restaurant chain's third-quarter profit rose 40 per cent as same-store sales and traffic improved. The company also boosted its same-store sales target for the year.
Closing slightly late, Wilmington Trust shares added US13c, or 1.6 per cent, to $US8.20, according to the New York Stock Exchange. Trading in the bank was halted twice overnight when its jump set off a single-stock circuit breaker twice on reports that Wilmington is in talks with Canadian banks.
