Stock Market News for April 22, 2010 - Market News
U.S. stocks ended a choppy session mixed Wednesday as traders appeared less enthusiastic to extend a rally that has put major indexes at multi-month highs.
Healthcare shares fell after a number of companies from the sector cut their earnings outlook, saying the U.S. healthcare overhaul will hurt the industry’s profits. However, demand for technology and industrial shares helped contain a retreat in the broader market. The S&P500 index ended just below unchanged and the Nasdaq rose 4 points, or 0.2%, to close at 2,504.61. A 6% surge in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares helped send the tech-heavy index higher as the firm said it was its "best non-holiday quarter ever," and promised "more extraordinary products" this year.
Lingering concerns about government’s charges against Goldman (NSYE:GS) weighed on financials and the sector closed in the red even as Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Well Fargo (NYSE:WFC) reported better-than-expected results. Traders remain uncertain about the proposed overhaul of the financial regulations and the impact it will have on profits of financial companies. Shares in Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) fell 1.8% while J.P. Morgan (NYSE:JPM) dropped 1.2%. Wells Fargo closed off 2%.
The newly enacted healthcare legislation continued to give jitters to healthcare companies. Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) slumped 9.6% to $40.76 after it cut its full-year revenue outlook citing the new health care laws. Shares in Merck (NYSE:MRK) dropped 3.7% and Abbott Laboratories (NSYE:ABT), which cut its 2010 outlook, fell 2.4%.
The DJIA closed up 0.1% on strength in Boeing (NSYE:BA), up 3.9%, and United Tech (NYSE:UTX), up 3.7%. The index gained 0.2% for a 2505 finish. Boeing said it expects additional aircraft orders this year and will soon decide whether to raise production of the 737s. The S&P500, however, shed 0.1% to close at 1206, weighed down by losses in its health care (-1.7%), telecommunications (-0.9%), oil and gas (-0.3%), financial (-0.2%) and basic material (-0.1%) sectors.
Today’s trading could be influenced by reports of a multi-year EU and IMF sponsored bailout of Greece and President Obama’s plans to garner Wall Street’s support for the proposed financial reform. Yesterday’s disappointing forecasts from EBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) would also test the market’s nerve. Such big names as Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), American Express (NYSE:AXP) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) are scheduled to report.
At the same time, investors will weigh the prospects for a building recovery. Today's earnings reports continue apace, with results slated from Baxter (NYSE:BAX), BB&T (NYSE:BBT), Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF), Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB), Marriott (NYSE:MAR), Pepsico (NYSE:PEP), Raytheon (NYSE:RTN), Textron (NYSE:TXT), Hershey (NYSE:HSY), Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ).
The preceding article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
