NEW YORK: US stocks opened little changed yesterday, a day after the S&P 500 rose to its highest level in five years, as a weak outlook from Intel offset a fourth-quarter profit at Morgan Stanley.
Shares of Intel Corp slumped 6.1 percent to $21.30 after the tech company forecast quarterly revenue that was below analysts’ estimates and hiked capital spending plans for the year.
That was offset somewhat by a 5-percent gain in shares of Morgan, which reported a fourth-quarter profit after a year-earlier loss, helped by higher revenue at the bank’s institutional securities business. Its stock jumped 5.3 percent to $22.84.
The earnings season so far has been mixed, but that could change with a barrage of releases scheduled for next week, said Doug Cote, Chief Market Strategist, ING Investment Management in New York. “There were some good reports but the real big bellwether companies are not coming in strong,” said Cote.
The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 8.02 points, or 0.06 percent, at 13,604.04. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 1.20 points, or 0.08 percent, to 1,479.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 7.52 points, or 0.24 percent, to 3,128.48.
S&P 500 company earnings are expected to have risen 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter, Thomson Reuters data showed. Expectations for the quarter have dropped considerably since October, when a 9.9 percent gain was estimated.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose to its highest since late 2007, and that could prompt investors to lock in recent gains, analysts said.
Economic data out of China provided some support to the market, though the focus remained on US corporate earnings.
Reuters
