US midday: Wall Street still higher despite poor housing figures
Tue 22 Jun 2010
LONDON (SHARECAST) - US stocks are still ahead on the day but disappointing housing sales have knocked sentiment.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says credit is becoming more available and that will help the US economy to grow.
Across the markets, the Dow is currently 16 points higher at 10,458, with the Nasdaq up 15 points at 2,304. The S&P 500 has added one point to 1,114.
Sales of existing homes unexpectedly fell in May, according to figures from the National Association of Realtors. Existing home sales were expected to rise to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1m units, but they fell to 5.66m. Analysts’ believe that tax incentives that come to an end in June have boosted the figures in earlier months. Sales could continue to be weak in the coming months.
The FHFA Housing price index rose 0.8% in April, although the March increase was revised downwards from 0.3% to 0.1%.
The two-day Federal Reserve interest rate setting meeting is also starting its two day meeting today.
Tech shares remain strong. Apple is higher after it said that it had sold 3m iPads.
Broadcom, which is acquiring AIM-quoted RFID technology developer Innovision Technology, is one of the stronger performers on Nasdaq today.
Concerns about upcoming hurricanes disrupting the clean-up in the Gulf of Mexico have hit BP. Anadarko and Transocean also fell.
Worse than expected earnings hit the share price of drugstore operator Walgreen.
There was a poor reaction to cruise operator Carnival's second quarter earnings which were published this afternoon. A fuel price increase hit earnings.
Software maker Adobe Systems will report after the market close tonight.
S&P 500 - Risers
Priceline.Com Inc. (PCLN) $193.56 +2.28%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $18.36 +2.17%
Capital One Financia (COF) $44.25 +2.12%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $20.87 +2.10%
Supervalu Inc. (SVU) $12.60 +2.06%
Allstate Corp. (ALL) $30.85 +1.92%
Sara Lee Corp. (SLE) $14.96 +1.91%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $65.16 +1.83%
Avon Products Inc. (AVP) $29.17 +1.82%
Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) $36.16 +1.80%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Big Lots Inc. (BIG) $32.19 -6.15%
Walgreen Co (WAG) $28.31 -6.07%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $34.00 -5.35%
Range Res Corp. (RRC) $45.74 -4.93%
Pioneer Natural Res (PXD) $67.86 -4.46%
Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR) $16.70 -3.13%
Sprint Nxtel Corp. (S) $4.36 -3.11%
Baker Hughes International (BHI) $42.77 -2.99%
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (SWK) $53.63 -2.97%
Ppl Corp. (PPL) $24.92 -2.90%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $35.64 +1.48%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $59.97 +1.43%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $26.27 +1.23%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $53.04 +1.07%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $29.33 +0.93%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $39.22 +0.90%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $51.61 +0.86%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $61.45 +0.57%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $23.47 +0.54%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $51.24 +0.43%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $11.53 -1.60%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $30.99 -1.40%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $65.45 -0.94%
General Electric Co. (GE) $15.96 -0.88%
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) $29.70 -0.80%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $75.19 -0.70%
Du Pont E I De Nemours and Co. (DD) $38.09 -0.57%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $69.54 -0.54%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $69.02 -0.50%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $62.82 -0.49%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Warner Chilcott Plc (WCRX) $25.48 +2.66%
Priceline.Com Inc. (PCLN) $193.56 +2.28%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $18.36 +2.17%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $20.87 +2.10%
Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) $36.16 +1.80%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $274.78 +1.71%
Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) $50.33 +1.70%
Genzyme Corp. (GENZ) $54.24 +1.68%
Life Technologies Corp. (LIFE) $52.16 +1.66%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $36.22 +1.63%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $33.60 -2.78%
Foster Wheeler AG (FWLT) $24.51 -2.70%
Flextronics International Ltd. (FLEX) $6.47 -2.12%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $21.22 -1.80%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $11.34 -1.78%
Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) $47.28 -1.52%
Expeditors International Of Washington Inc. (EXPD) $37.99 -1.38%
Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS) $15.57 -1.33%
Seagate Technology (STX) $14.69 -1.22%
Fastenal Company (FAST) $54.10 -1.13%
LONDON (SHARECAST) - US stocks are still ahead on the day but disappointing housing sales have knocked sentiment.
