Stocks Struggle in New York, European Markets Fall 1%

Nichole Harper
27 Mar, 2013
New York City

Market indexes on Wall Street opened lower and slowly recovered near flat line. Italian politicians struggled to form a new governing coalition and European sentiment index showed a weakness. Bank of England said U.K. banks need to raise $38 billion.

[R]11:40 AM New York – Market indexes on Wall Street opened lower and slowly recovered near flat line. Italian politicians struggled to form a new governing coalition and European sentiment index showed a weakness. Bank of England said U.K. banks need to raise $38 billion.[/R]

Markets in New York pulled back after a week of sustained rise and renewed political uncertainties in Italy.

The S&P 500 index declined 5.5 or 0.4% to 1,558 and the narrow Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 stocks fell 56 or 0.4% to 14,504.

Banks in New York traded lower and JPMorgan Chase dropped 2%, Bank of America declined 0.8% and Citigroup fell 0.9%.

Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee said U.K. banks need to raise additional 25 billion pounds or $38 billion in new capital before the year-end to meet the capital standards laid out by the central bank.

European markets declined led by 1.2% fall in the Milan index after Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani failed to secure the support of Five-Star Movement to form a government.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index fell 0.6% or 39.3 to 6,360 and in Frankfurt the DAX index dropped 1.3% to 104.5 to 7,775.

In Paris, CAC 40 index declined 1.4% or 54.1 to 3,695.

Stocks in Review

AOL, Inc ((AOL)) soared 8% to $39.09 after Barclays lifted its view on the stock.

Apple Inc ((AAPL)) declined 1.7% after the company faced a legal challenge in China amid accusation that its voice recognition software violated local company software patent.

Mattress Firm Holding Corp ((MFRM)) soared 8.7% or $2.70 to $33.72 after the specialty retailer said net sales in the fourth quarter ending in January climbed 37% to $258.2 million. Comparable sales in the quarter fell 1.6%.

Net income in the quarter plunged 56% to $7.6 million or 41 cents a diluted share compared to $17.4 million or 53 cents.

The company earned 30 cents a share after adjusting for $2.4 million related to acquisition costs. The company estimated adjusted earnings in the current fiscal year between $1.90 and $1.98 a share and revenues between $1.24 billion and $1.25 billion.