U.S. Indexes Drop on Cisco Outlook; Home Seizures Fall 9%

Devan Biswas
11 Nov, 2010
New York City

U.S. stock indexes fell sharply after Cisco guided lower than expected sales in the current quarter. The weak guidance dragged tech stock heavy Nasdaq down 1.7%. U.S. home seizures declined 9% in October. The gold gained the dollar edged up.

[R]10:00 AM New York – U.S. stock indexes fell sharply after Cisco guided lower than expected sales in the current quarter. The weak guidance dragged tech stock heavy Nasdaq down 1.7%. U.S. home seizures declined 9% in October. The gold gained the dollar edged up.[/R]

U.S. stocks opened lower and fell quickly after Cisco guided lower than expected sales, the dollar edged up but struggled to advance and commodities traded higher. Tech stocks heavy Nasdaq declined sharply by 1.7% and the Dow and the Nasdaq fell nearly 1%.

Cisco dropped 16% to $20.50 after it issued a cautious outlook.

U.S. home seizures declined 9% in October from the previous month after state regulators stepped up the scrutiny of the foreclosure process. Foreclosure filings in the month increased 4%, according to the data provided RealtyTrac Inc.

Banks seized 93,236 properties in the month from a record 102,134 in September and filings declined to 332,172 and were flat from a year ago.

California led the nation with the highest filings of 66,475 followed by Florida with 56,858 filings and Nevada with the highest foreclosure filings of 14,205.

APEC foreign ministers urged member nations to hasten the reforms and set up free trade in the region as they fear world economy may slide into recession. The talks among G20 nations are not expected to deliver immediate solution to the rising imbalances of trade and investments.

Banks in Asia advanced for the second day after a report in Financial Times suggested that domestic market oriented banks will be exempt from the higher capital requirements. The news has been widely followed in the financial markets around the world but sources close to several finance ministries among G20 nations strongly denied the possibility of any exemption.

Stock Movers

Advance Auto Parts Inc traded higher after the auto parts retailer lifted its annual earnings outlook to between $3.80 and $3.90 a share.

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc plunged more than 35% after the Greek oil tankers fleet operator reported lower than expected sales and earnings.

Cisco Systems traded lower after it estimated lower than expected sales in the current quarter.

Kohl’s Corp gained after the department store chain estimated higher sales and earnings. The company estimated fourth quarter sales of as much as $5.99 billion and earnings per share in the range between $1.51 and $1.57.

Prudential Financial Inc said in a statement that the company is looking to raise as much as $1 billion.

Rosetta Stone Inc dropped after the packaged language software seller estimated lower than expected earnings in the current quarter.

Western Union declined 1% and MoneyGram International Inc dropped 1.6% after the revised consumer protection went into effect that requires money transfer services to disclose the fees and exchange rates.