U.S. Stocks Trend Lower Ahead of Yellen Comments

Nichole Harper
10 Feb, 2014
New York City

U.S. stocks struggled and lacked direction and investors looked to economic data releases in the week ahead. The dollar against the yen and emerging market currencies. Crude oil and gold gained and the yield on 10-year Treasury notes inched higher.

[R]12:20 PM New York – U.S. stocks struggled and lacked direction and investors looked to economic data releases in the week ahead. The dollar against the yen and emerging market currencies. Crude oil and gold gained and the yield on 10-year Treasury notes inched higher.[/R]

Stocks struggled and lacked direction and pulled back from the surge at the end of last week, as investors looked ahead to economic data in the week.

There are no major economic data scheduled for release today, however investors are anticipating testimony of newly appointed Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen to Congress on Tuesday, unemployment claims on Wednesday and retail sales on Thursday.

Industrial production and consumer sentiment are scheduled to release on Friday.

S&P 500 index declined 2.4 to 1,794.62 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 6.39 to 4,132.25.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures declined 0.3% to $99.47 barrels and gold advanced 0.7% to 1,272.30 an ounce.

The yield on 10-year Treasury notes increased to 2.6871% from 2.674% near Friday close.

The dollar weakened against the euro but gained against currencies of emerging markets and the yen.

South African rand, Turkish lira, and Hungarian forint declined against the U.S. dollar. Rupee in India advanced against the dollar.

European Markets

In London trading, FTSE 100 index rose 0.2% or 11.5 to 6,583.02 and in Frankfurt the DAX index slid 0.2% or 17.4 to 9,285.05.

In Paris, CAC 40 index gained 0.1% or 4.3 to 4,233.08.

U.S. Stocks in Review

CNA Financial Corp ((CNA)) climbed 6% or $2.38 to $42.05 after the insurance company said net written premiums in the fourth-quarter ending in December jumped 4.3% to $1.68 billion.

Net in the quarter swung to a profit of $221 million or 82 cents a diluted share compared to a loss of $9 million or 3 cents.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc ((DKS)) jumped 2.8% or $1.44 to $52.54 after the sports and fitness goods retailer said fourth-quarter sales are ahead of expectations and same-store sales jumped 7%, ahead of company''s estimate between 3% and 4% increase.

Dick''s raised quarterly earnings per share forecast in the range between $1.10 and $1.11 from earlier estimate range between $1.04 and $1.07.

For fiscal 2014, the company expects per-share earnings in the range of $3.03 to $3.08 from the earlier estimate between $2.68 and $2.69.

Hasbro, Inc ((HAS)) soared 6.2% or $3.07 to $53.16 after the entertainment products provider reported revenue in the fourth-quarter ending in December $1.28 billion, flat from a year ago.

Net earnings in the quarter declined 10% to $129.8 million or 98 cents a diluted share compared to $130.3 million or 99 cents.

Loews Corporation ((L)) declined 4.4% or $2.01 to $43.17 after the property and casualty insurance provider reported revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in December climbed 4.6% to $3.88 billion.

Net loss in the quarter widened to $198 million or 51 cents a diluted share compared to $32 million or 8 cents.

LinkedIn Corp ((LNKD)) fell 28 cents to $209.31 after the professional network services provider agreed to acquire Bright, a San Francisco-based data-driven job search startup for $120 million. The acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter of this year.

McDonald''s Corporation ((MCD)) fell 1% or $1.01 to $94.91 after the fast food restaurants operator said global comparable sales in January increased 1.2% but U.S. comparable sales dropped 3.3%.

Comparable sales in Europe jumped 2% and sales in Asia Pacific climbed 5.4% in January.

Yelp Inc ((YELP)) increased 4% to $93 after Yahoo (YHOO)) plans to incorporate local listing and business reviews in to its search results. Yahoo gained 1.1% to $37.40.

The news was confirmed by Ticekr.com and was first reported by Wall Street Journal.