Stocks Trade Lower on Economic Data

albena
26 Apr, 2005
New York City

Contradictory economic data held stocks mixed Tuesday and investors stayed away waiting for next week's Federal Reserve Rate decision. The Commerce Department's report marked a growth in new home sales last month.

Markets were bolstered by home builder stocks, which climbed after the Commerce Department announced a sudden rise in new home sales for March. New home sales climbed to 1.43 million, up from 1.23 million in February. Analysts had forecast sales to slid to 1.19 million.

Oil prices slid below $54 per barrel after reaching the $56 level just one day ago. This helped ease the worries that inflation is growing. Nevertheless, consumer confidence plunged to its lowest level in five months and this kept many investors on the sidelines looking forward to next week's Federal Reserve Rate decision and expecting it would give the market more clarity on the economy.

Dow Jones industrial average DOWN 9.83, or 0.1% to 10,232.64.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index UP 0.14, or 0.01% to 1,162.24.
Nasdaq composite DOWN 0.25, or 0.01%, to 1,950.53.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 2.19, or 0.4%, at 594.25. Japan's Nikkei stock average slid 0.34%. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.4%, Germany's DAX index dropped 0.31%, and France's CAC-40 remained flat.

Shares UP:

Boeing was the best mover, rising 1.70, or 2.9%, to 59.58.
Lockheed Martin Corp. gained 26 cents to $60.01.
Genentech Inc. surged $4.84, or 7%, to $74.27.
IBM Corp. added $1.53 to $76.14.
Premcor gained $10.70, or 18%, to $69.70
Valero Energy advanced 83 cents, or 1.1%, to 75.87.
Google gained 7.72, or 3.6%, to 223.53, a record closing price.
Apple Computer gained 1.48, or 4.2%, to 36.98.


Shares DOWN:

DuPont Co. lost 36 cents to $48.22.
Martha Stewart Omnimedia Inc. slipped 71 cents to $19.63.
AK Steel shares fell 15%.
Intersections dropped 36.7%.
Lexmark shares sank 10.6%.
Silicon Laboratories shares slumped 15%.