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World stock markets low

26 October 2009 08:37 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. The Dow fell 109.13, or 1.1 percent, to 9,972.18. The S&P 500 index fell 13.31, or 1.2 percent, to 1,079.60. The Nasdaq fell 10.82, or 0.5 percent, to 2,154.47, AP reported,
For the week, the Dow lost 24 points, or 0.2 percent. The S&P 500 index fell 0.7 percent and the Nasdaq lost 0.1 percent.
The major indexes closed at their highest levels in a year on Monday but zigzagged the rest of the week as investors digested a rush of earnings reports and grappled with worries that stocks are overheated.
Bond prices fell Friday, sending their yields higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.49 percent from 3.42 percent late Thursday.
The dollar rose against most other major currencies. That pushed down oil, which becomes more expensive for overseas buyers when the dollar strengthens. Crude oil fell 69 cents to settle at $80.50 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Frederic H. Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Ore., said some stock market investors held off selling because profit reports have been better than expected.
"I think what we have seen is maybe the temptation to take profits postponed a bit because of the exceptional earnings numbers," he said.
Fewer than half of the companies in the S&P 500 index have reported third-quarter earnings, but so far earnings from eight of 10 companies have exceeded analysts’ forecasts, according to Thomson Reuters.
Next week brings reports from Kellogg Co., Procter & Gamble Co. and Exxon Mobil Corp. Reports are due on sales of new homes, consumer confidence and demand for big-ticket manufactured items.
Friday’s report from the National Association of Realtors was seen by some as an aberration. Existing home sales rose 9.4 percent as buyers raced to complete purchases before a tax credit expires at the end of November. The pace of the gain was the strongest in two years and nearly double what analysts had expected.
Among companies posting earnings, Union Pacific fell $3.39, or 5.6 percent, to $57.73 and Burlington Northern fell $5.50, or 6.5 percent, to $79.12.
Amazon jumped $25.04, or 26.8 percent, to $118.49 after its third-quarter earnings jumped 68 percent and it forecast more than 20 percent growth for the current quarter. The stock logged a high of $119.65.
Microsoft’s earnings fell 18 percent, largely because it deferred revenue when it let buyers of PC’s over the summer get free upgrades to Windows 7, which the company released this week. The stock rose $1.43, 5.4 percent, to $28.02.
Broadcom fell $2.23, or 7.3 percent, to $28.50 after the company’s earnings fell by half. CEO Scott A. McGregor disappointed investors with a cautious forecast. "There’s a little concern about whether Santa’s coming this year or not," he said on a conference call.
Three stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 4.8 billion shares, compared with 5.3 billion Thursday.
Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.7 percent, Germany’s DAX index fell 0.4 percent and France’s CAC-40 lost 0.3 percent. Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.2 percent.