Dow Falls on News of Low Kimberly-Clark Earnings

Stocks ended mixed Friday as an unexpectedly weak earnings report from Kimberly-Clark dragged down shares of consumer-products companies.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 57.04 points, or 0.7%, to 8,602.52, led by Kimberly-Clark rival Procter & Gamble, down $1.75 to $82.44 on concern that corporate profits don’t justify record-high stock prices. P&G; had risen 38% in the last year.

“People are nervous because the market is at such high levels, and they react to any little news,” said Suzanne Coleman, a money manager at David L. Babson & Co. in Cambridge, Mass.

But the broad market was mostly higher. Winners topped losers by 1,516 to 1,404 on the New York Stock Exchange and by 2,205 to 1,920 on Nasdaq.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 7.60 points to 1,771.66, and the Russell 2,000 index of smaller stocks gained 1 point to a record 468.77.

Kimberly-Clark fell $6.44 to $50.69 after the maker of Kleenex tissues said competition and promotional spending had hurt earnings in Europe. The company said late Thursday that its first-quarter profit would be 54 cents to 58 cents a share, below the 63 cents analysts expected.

Meanwhile, Oracle shares rose $1.50 to $29.19 after the company said fiscal third-quarter profit rose 12%, beating expectations, as sales of its mainstay database software picked up. That followed two disappointing previous quarters that sent its shares down 31% from their August high.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index fell 1.33 points, or 0.1%, to 1,068.59, after touching a record 1,075.86.

For the week, the Dow rose 0.4%, closing above 8,600 for the first time. The S&P; 500 gained 1.2%, while the Nasdaq rose 1%.

The Russell 2,000 rose 1% for the week, setting new highs for the first time since Oct. 13.

A government report released Friday showed that wholesale prices declined for a fourth month, thanks in part to lower costs for imported goods and oil. The report suggested inflation remains tame.

Bonds were relatively calm as the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond edged up to 5.89% from 5.86% on Thursday.

In foreign markets, the Nikkei index in Tokyo was up almost 3%.

Among Friday’s highlights:

* CyberMedia fell $2.44, or 25%, to $7.31. Late Thursday, the Santa Monica-based software developer said it would revise its fourth-quarter earnings downward and that first-quarter profit would be much lower than expected. The stock is just off its all-time low of $6.69 reached Feb. 3.

* E-Trade Group fell $3.19, or 13%, to $21.38 after an analyst cut his estimate for the electronic brokerage firm’s fiscal second-quarter earnings by 1 cent to 16 cents.

* 360 Communications rose $5.81 to $35.63 on a Bloomberg News report that Alltel is in talks to buy the wireless communications company for $40 a share, or $4.9 billion.

* Ford Motor rose $1.92 to $59.30 after the auto maker announced details of its spinoff of its Associates consumer-finance unit.

* Other consumer-products companies fell on the Kimberly-Clark news. Colgate-Palmolive lost $1.63 to $83.81; Gillette fell $1.69 to $112.81; Clorox lost $1 to $86.81.

Market Roundup, D4