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US stock markets mixed

23 October 2009 07:37 (UTC +04:00)

Baku- APA-Economics. Stock futures are pointing to a mixed opening Thursday as investors received a worse-than-expected reading on the labor market and sifted through another pile of earnings reports, AP reported.
The market is trying to rebound a day after a late-session sell off pushed major indexes lower. Lingering concerns over whether investors had been overly optimistic about an economic rebound in pushing the market higher recently fed into Wednesday’s decline.
Overseas markets were tumbling following the U.S. market’s drop Wednesday, and as uncertainty mounted about Chinese stimulus measures aimed at pumping up that country’s economy.
Investors are pouring over numerous earnings reports from a wide variety of sectors for insight into the strength of consumers as they continue to deal with a weak jobs market. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy.
Cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc., printer and copier supply company Xerox Corp. and Dow Chemical Co. all reported weakening sales, but were able to beat profit expectations.
Upbeat reports from Dow Jones industrial average components manufacturer 3M Co., insurer Travelers Cos., telecommunications provider AT&T Inc. and fast-food chain McDonald’s Corp. helped push Dow futures higher while Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index futures fell slightly.
The mixed earnings signals continue to show an economy in flux.
Credit card lenders American Express Co. and Capital One Financial Corp. should provide clues into whether consumers are still struggling to repay loans, which has been a major problem for nearly the entire financial sector for the past two years. Both report after the market closes.
The Labor Department provided a disappointing employment picture Thursday morning, saying workers filing for jobless benefits for the first time rose more than expected last week.
New unemployment claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 531,000 last week, from an upwardly revised 520,000 the previous week. Wall Street economists expected only a slight increase, according to economists polled by Thomson Reuters.
Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 6, or 0.1 percent, to 9,907. But Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 1.40, or 0.1 percent, to 1,076.70, while Nasdaq 100 index futures declined 4.75, or 0.3 percent, to 1,748.50.
Stocks tumbled sharply late in the day Wednesday, sending the Dow down 92 points and back below the 10,000 threshold after the index was up 78 points and had reached its highest level in a year earlier in the session. The Dow hit 10,000 last week for the first time in a year.
The sell-off began after a cautious note from bank analyst Richard Bove about Wells Fargo & Co. Analysts say the note, along with ongoing concerns about the speed and size of the market’s seven-month recovery, left the market ready for a retreat.
The Dow has dropped three of the last four days.
Meanwhile, bond prices dipped Thursday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.41 percent from 3.39 percent late Wednesday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.07 percent from 0.06 percent.
The dollar rose against other major currencies, while gold prices also fell.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.6 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 1.1 percent, Germany’s DAX index dropped 1.4 percent, and France’s CAC-40 tumbled 1.5 percent.