Stocks slumped, as investors took a breather using as an “excuse” weak euro-zone economic data, escalating worries over the banking crisis in Cyprus and disappointment with Oracle’s quarterly earnings. Meanwhile, existing home sales in February edged up 0.8% to an annual rate of 4.98 million, a 3-year high but slightly lower than expectations. Jobless claims totaled 336,000, up 2,000 from the prior week, but less than the 345,000 forecast. The Philly Fed's index rose to 2 in March from -12.5 the prior month, above a reading of -3 expected for March. The Conference Board's leading economic index grew 0.5% in February, with 8 out of 10 indicators climbing, marking the third straight month of gains. HSBC China PMI came in at 51.7 in March, improving from a final reading of 50.4 for February, showing expanded manufacturing activity. On the downside, Markit PMI for Germany’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly contracted in March and dropped to a three-month low at 48.9, sending the sector back into contraction territory. Oracle slid 9.7%, dragging the tech sector down, a day after the co. disappointed with both its results and forecast. Cisco gave up 3.8% after FBR Capital downgraded the stock to underperform, warning that the networking-gear maker “will become increasingly more challenged to offset weaker-than-expected routing and switching demand as it works to transition to a more software- and service centric business model.” Hewlett-Packard failed to hold early gains after an announcement that it has raised its quarterly dividend by 10% and lost 2.6% a day after the board survived a “Vote No” campaign against some directors. On the upside, Yahoo climbed 3.5% on an upgrade from Oppenheimer. In the evening trade Nike soared 7.8% following quarterly figures that outstripped Wall Street’s projections.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Slumped on Cyprus worries and Orcale results
Stocks slumped, as investors took a breather using as an “excuse” weak euro-zone economic data, escalating worries over the banking crisis in Cyprus and disappointment with Oracle’s quarterly earnings. Meanwhile, existing home sales in February edged up 0.8% to an annual rate of 4.98 million, a 3-year high but slightly lower than expectations. Jobless claims totaled 336,000, up 2,000 from the prior week, but less than the 345,000 forecast. The Philly Fed's index rose to 2 in March from -12.5 the prior month, above a reading of -3 expected for March. The Conference Board's leading economic index grew 0.5% in February, with 8 out of 10 indicators climbing, marking the third straight month of gains. HSBC China PMI came in at 51.7 in March, improving from a final reading of 50.4 for February, showing expanded manufacturing activity. On the downside, Markit PMI for Germany’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly contracted in March and dropped to a three-month low at 48.9, sending the sector back into contraction territory. Oracle slid 9.7%, dragging the tech sector down, a day after the co. disappointed with both its results and forecast. Cisco gave up 3.8% after FBR Capital downgraded the stock to underperform, warning that the networking-gear maker “will become increasingly more challenged to offset weaker-than-expected routing and switching demand as it works to transition to a more software- and service centric business model.” Hewlett-Packard failed to hold early gains after an announcement that it has raised its quarterly dividend by 10% and lost 2.6% a day after the board survived a “Vote No” campaign against some directors. On the upside, Yahoo climbed 3.5% on an upgrade from Oppenheimer. In the evening trade Nike soared 7.8% following quarterly figures that outstripped Wall Street’s projections.
