Stocks end session mixed
Wall Street was mixed Tuesday as investors weighed disappointing housing and consumer confidence data against stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average resumed its trek toward 13,000.
Investors were initially cautious after the National Assn. of Realtors reported sales of existing homes in March had their biggest one-month decline since January 1989. Also, the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence fell more than expected in April because of higher gasoline prices and broader economic concerns.
But tempering those concerns were robust first-quarter earnings reports from Lockheed Martin, AT&T;, Dupont and Texas Instruments.
“A general optimistic tone related to better-than-expected earnings is what’s moving it,” said Richard E. Cripps, chief market strategist for St. Louis-based broker Stifel Nicolaus. He added, however, that “it’s not a market that’s necessarily very broad in its advance.”
He pointed out that the Dow’s strong gains in afternoon trading were driven by only a few companies, notably IBM and Honeywell International. Also, there were much smaller moves in the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 and Nasdaq composite indexes -- which this year have risen by greater percentages than the Dow.
The Dow rose 34.54 points, or 0.27%, to 12,953.94. The index set a new intraday high of 12,989.86.
Broader indexes were mixed. The S&P; 500 index was down 0.52 of a point, or less than 0.1%, at 1,480.41, and the Nasdaq rose 0.87 of a point, also less than 0.1%, to 2,524.54.
The Nasdaq is slightly above the halfway point to its record close of 5,048.62, while the S&P; is just 3% below its record close of 1,527.46. Both records were reached in March 2000, at the end of the dot-com boom.
“Where I think you’ll get a lot more excitement is when the S&P; pushes past the 2,000 level. That’s going to be a real event,” Cripps said.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers Tuesday by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 3.11 billion shares, up from Monday’s 2.56 billion.
Bond yields fell, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.62% from 4.64% on Monday.
Oil prices declined, with crude oil futures falling $1.31 to $64.58 a barrel in New York trading.
Despite weakness in Spanish shares and other European markets, the euro’s latest climb continued. The currency reached $1.363 in New York, up from $1.357 on Monday and nearing the all-time high of $1.366 reached in December 2004, according to Bloomberg News.
In other market highlights:
* Texas Instruments surged $2.51 to $34.92 after its first-quarter results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The world’s largest maker of mobile phone chips also provided better-than-expected financial projections for the year.
* Whirlpool soared $12.50 to a record $102.85 after quarterly earnings declined less than analysts expected.
* Lockheed Martin reported quarterly profit rose 17% from the year-earlier period. Sales, however, were weaker than expected, and its shares fell $2.25 to $94.82.
* AT&T; reported that its profit doubled during the first quarter to beat Wall Street projections. Its shares fell 67 cents to $39.10 as growth in its wireless business lagged.
* DuPont posted a 16% rise in first-quarter profit on higher sales of seeds and improved pharmaceuticals. Its shares rose 67 cents to $49.86.
* IBM jumped $3.28 to $98.49 after the company increased its dividend by 33% and expanded its stock buyback program by $15 billion. The stock moved back into the black for the year: It’s up 1.4% since Dec. 31.
* Honeywell gained $1.67 to $52.90, continuing to advance after its strong first-quarter earnings report late last week.
* Movie theater chain Cinemark Holdings flopped on its first trading day. The shares fell 9 cents to $18.91 after trading as low as $17.74. The Plano, Texas-based company and its investors sold 28 million shares at $19 each on Monday. A rival chain, AMC Entertainment Inc., hopes to go public next week.
* Among Southern California companies, Edwards Lifesciences of Irvine slumped $3.12 to $49.03 after its first-quarter earnings fell short of estimates. The company makes valves and other products that treat heart disease.
* In foreign trading, the Spanish stock market plunged 2.7% amid a sharp sell-off in housing-related stocks. Recent data suggest the country’s decade-long property boom is imploding, some analysts say.
