U.S. Stocks Drift Lower on Weak Earnings from Amazon, Visa and Ford

Nichole Harper
25 Apr, 2014
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street opened lower after Amazon, Ford and Visa reported weak quarterly results overshadowing better than expected sales from Microsoft. U.S. consumer sentiment rose to a nine-month high.

[R]11:10 AM New York – Stocks on Wall Street opened lower after Amazon, Ford and Visa reported weak quarterly results overshadowing better than expected sales from Microsoft. U.S. consumer sentiment rose to a nine-month high.[/R]

Stocks on Wall Street opened lower after Amazon, Visa and Ford reported weaker than expected quarterly results overshadowing positive results from Microsoft.

S&P 500 index declined 0.5% to 1,868.95 and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.8% to 4,114.28.

Consumer sentiment index rose to a nine-month high, according to data released by Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan.

The final reading on the overall index increased to 84.1 in April from the revised 80 in March. The April index was earlier estimated at 82.6. The overall index number was the best since July 2013.

The current economic conditions index increased to 98.7, the best reading since July 2007 and increased from 95.7 in March.

World Markets Review

European markets were under pressure after tensions rose between Russia and Ukraine.

Investors were nervous at the prospect of rising conflict between neighbors Ukraine and Russia as both nations exchange barbs and prepare for armed conflict.

Also, S&P 500 index, the U.S. based rating agency lowered its rating on the Russian debt and Russia government warned Visa Inc and MasterCard of consequences of blocking Russian payments.

The market indexes opened lower a day after election in Mumbai as the largest democracy in the world reached half-way in Lok Sabha elections.

The Sensex Index dropped 188.47 or 0.8% to close at 22,688.07. The CNX Nifty slipped 58.05 to close at 6,782.75. For the week, Sensex jumped 1.8%.

Market indexes in Tokyo closed higher after choppy day of trading and for the week the Nikkei index declined 0.6%.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 24.27 or 0.2% to 14,429.26 and the Topix index gained 5.09 to 1,169.99. For the week, Nikkei 225 fell 0.6%.

The yen closed at 102.37 against the U.S. dollar.

U.S. Stocks in Review

Amazon.com, Inc ((AMZN)) plunged 8.5% to $308.30 after the online store operator reported lower than expected earnings on higher investments in new projects.

Ford Motor Company ((F)) declined 3% to $15.79 after the automaker reported lower than expected first-quarter earnings on higher warranty costs on older vehicles by $400 million.

In the quarter, the auto maker earned $989 million or 39 cents a share and sales were nearly flat at $33.9 billion. The company also prepared to launch 16 new models in the U.S. after expensive overhaul of its factories and downtime at two factories for 13 weeks.

Microsoft Inc ((MSFT)) increased 0.9% to $40.22 after the largest software company reported better quarterly results on rising enterprise sales and growing presence of its cloud computing and storage services.

Pandora Media Inc ((P)) plunged 11% to $25 after the online radio operator estimated lower than expected earnings in the current quarter as the company plans an aggressive marketing campaign for its services.

Starbucks Corp ((SBUX)) increased 0.9% to $71.71 after the coffee house chain operator lifted its profit outlook and sales of non-coffee snacks led the sales gains. The retailer also said discount program to its eight million U.S. members also contributed to sales growth.

Visa Inc ((V)) dropped 4% to $200.94 after the payment processor reported lower than expected sales and Russia said it may limit the presence of payment processor’s network.

Tensions between Russia and Visa and MasterCard rose after two payment processors blocked payments because of U.S. sanctions on banks and corporations.