Equities Update: Mixed Finish, But Dow Four for Four
by: Midnight Trader July 27, 2010 | about: DIA / QQQQ / SPY
4:25 PM, Jul 27, 2010 --
* NYSE down 1 (-0.01%) to 7,044.99
* DJIA up 12.26 (+0.1%) to 10,538
* S&P 500 down 1.2 (-0.1%) to 1,114
* Nasdaq down 8.18 (-0.4%) to 2,288
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
* Hang Seng up 0.64%
* Nikkei down 0.07%
* FTSE up 0.27%
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) DD beats with earnings, lifts guidance.
(+) LXK beats with earnings.
(+) RF gains on results.
(+) ABK financial actives.
(+) AGEN reports positive data in Phase 1 herpes trial.
(+) COST upgraded.
(+) BCS, LYG gain after Basel panel relaxes some rules.
(-) TLAB results top year-ago period, raises revenue view.
(+) TEVA beats with results.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) OVTI downgraded.
(-) ZRAN continues sharp evening drop that followed earnings disappointment; downgraded this morning.
(-) WMT downgraded.
MARKET DIRECTION
The major averages close basically unchanged, straddling the flat line. But a narrowly positive finish for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was enough to extend the current win streak to four sessions.
Stocks were narrowly mixed and pushing back toward session highs inside the final hour of trading in a choppy session. Mostly upbeat earnings were watered down by disappointing consumer sentiment data.
Stocks have posted strong gains over three days, so some consolidation wasn't a surprise to Wall Street.
Oil futures close down some 2% or $1.48 at $77.50 a barrel for September futures; it's the lowest close in a nearly a week and the biggest one-session move since July 1.
Earnings and a raised outlook from DuPont (DD) set the earnings tone early.
The Conference Board's report that its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 50.4 from June's revised reading of 54.3 distracted investors from another batch of upbeat earnings reports. The market had expected the index to come in at 51.
Earlier, mildly optimistic housing news hit. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index for May rose 1.3% from April. But the homebuyer's tax credit that expired April 30 had an impact on the reading, and the report warned that the recent gains in home prices are not likely to last.
Supportive news from overseas came from the European banking section. UBS AG and Deutsche Bank reported strong earnings. The sector has been leaning higher since regulators evaluated banks across Europe to see which might have trouble surviving another economic downturn. Major European indexes rose following the bank earnings and another positive report on Germany's economy.
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