Record U.S. Indexes as Investors Weigh Earnings

Nichole Harper
17 Jan, 2014
New York City

U.S. stocks traded sideways and investors digested several earnings reports. General Electric earnings rose but fell short of expectations. American Express net doubled. Morgan Stanley and UPS results were lower than expected. Consumer confidence index eased in December.

[R]12:25 PM New York – U.S. stocks traded sideways and investors digested several earnings reports. General Electric earnings rose but fell short of expectations. American Express net doubled. Morgan Stanley and UPS results were lower than expected. Consumer confidence index eased in December.[/R]

U.S. stocks traded mixed as investors digested barrage of earnings including results from UPS, General Electric, Intel, American Express and Morgan Stanley.

S&P 500 index declined 2.10 to 1,843.79 and the Nasdaq Composite Index eased 7.02 to 4,211.67.

Crude oil gained 47 cents to $94.43 a barrel and gold added $13.90 to $1,254.10 per ounce.

Consumer confidence index declined to 80.4 from 82.5 in December, Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index showed today. The index declined unexpectedly.

European Markets

In London trading, FTSE 100 index rose 0.2% or 13.3 to 6,829 and in Frankfurt the DAX index gained 0.2% or 24.6 to 9,742.

In Paris, CAC 40 index increased 0.2% or 8.4 to 4,328.

U.S. Stocks in Review

American Express ((AXP)) gained 5% after its quarterly net doubled.

Capital One Financial Corp ((COF)) declined 4.5% after the largest credit card issuer reported lower than expected fourth-quarter earnings on higher than budgeted expenses.

Electronic Arts Inc ((ERTS)) soared 12% after positive comments from CRT Capital Group.

Separately, industry research firm NPD Group Inc issued a research note and said video-game console sale increased to a three-year high.

General Electric ((GE)) declined 2% after performance in its manufacturing unit fell short of expectations. Operating earnings margin met investors’ expectations but manufacturing division earnings growth was less than expected.

Intel ((INTC)) dropped 3% after the company’s sales estimate were lower than expected on stagnant PC market.

Schlumberger Limited ((SLB)) gained 1.5% or $1.35 to $89.96 after the oil and gas exploration technology supplier said revenue in the fourth-quarter ending in December climbed 7.5% to $11.91 billion.

Net income in the quarter surged 22% to $1.66 billion or $1.26 a diluted share compared to $1.36 billion or $1.02.

For the year, revenue jumped 8% to $45.27 billion and net income soared 22.6% to $6.73 billion.

UPS ((UPS)) fell 2% after the parcel delivery service estimated lower than expected earnings in the current quarter.