|
|
| |
|
  |
MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Rise On Upbeat Profits From J.P. Morgan, Intel Dow JonesOctober 17, 2007: 11:01 AM EST U.S. stocks climbed Wednesday after early economic data did little to upset the optimism sparked by better-than-expected profits reported by blue-chip companies like J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., United Technologies Corp. and Intel Corp. "You would have had to be asleep not to know food and gas prices were up significantly. But when you flip to core inflation, it came in right as advertised," said Bill Stone, chief investment officer at PNC Wealth Management. "This stuff didn't get in the way of the story," said Stone of investors' focus on corporate profit reports, noting that this "took away some of the market worry." Reversing course after two days of losses, stock moved broadly higher in the early going. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) climbed 18.1 points to 13,931, with 20 of its 30 component stocks gaining ground. The S&P 500 (SPX) added 6.30 points to 1,544.83, while the Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) rose 29.57 points to 2,793.48. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange totaled 300 million, and advancing stocks topped decliners more than 2 to 1. On the Nasdaq, 564 million shares traded hands, and advancing stocks beat declining issues more than 2 to 1. Going a long way toward setting the trading tone, chipmaker Intel (INTC) reported a 43% quarterly profit rise late Monday, and fellow Dow components United Technologies (UTX) , J.P Morgan Chase (JPM) and Coca-Cola Co. (KO) all checked in with higher earnings before the bell. On the economic front, the Labor Department reported that U.S. consumer prices climbed 0.3% in September on higher food and energy costs. Core inflation, which strips out the volatile food and energy catagories, rose 0.2% for the fourth month in a row. The government also reported U.S. housing starts in September fell 10.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.19 million, with the decline proving larger than expected. "There's a lot of inventory and projects in process, until those projects are complete, starts won't go up," said Bob Moulton, president of the Americana Mortgage Group. "It's going to be a long cold winter, and once heating bills in the northeast and northwest start kicking in, and mortgage payment comes in, people who have been holding on maybe won't be able to. I think it will get a little worse before it gets better," said Moulton. More surprising, Moulton said, is the 0.7% rise in mortgage applications last week contained in the latest survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. "We're seeing a lot of applications come in, but not necessarily a lot of closing go out; the reason being, people still think they can get that investment property with a mediocre credit score and 10% down," Moulton said. Crude-oil futures moved pulled lower after an earlier rise, with the November contract falling 24 cents to $87.37.
|
||||||||||
| |
|