Earnings, Mergers No Help for Stocks
Solid earnings from the likes of HP
HP ended the day 0.8% lower despite better than expected results and upbeat comments from analysts.
24/7 Media
Mid-Atlantic manufacturing came in stronger than expected and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke downplayed the effect of the housing slump on the economy, but rising oil prices kept stocks from gaining on the good news.
Micron
Amazon
Gerber Scientific
Online publisher TechTarget
The Nasdaq lost 8 to 2539, the S&P 500 slipped 1 to 1512, and the Dow lost 10 to 13,476. Volume declined to 2.88 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.02 billion on the Nasdaq. Declining issues led by a 19-12 margin on the NYSE, and 19-11 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 52% on the NYSE, and 53% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 194-43 on the NYSE, and 118-108 on the Nasdaq.
and JC Penny
and more tech sector mergers couldn't keep stocks from closing just below the flat line Thursday.
gained on a buyout deal with WPP
, while Acxiom
soared on a private equity takeover deal.
fell 5% on a $1.1 billion convertible offering, while Sun
gained 3.5% on a $3 billion stock buyback.
fell on its digital music plans.
jumped on its earnings, while Napster
, Salesforce.com
, Opnet
and Opnext
fell on their results.
had a solid debut, rising 14% from its $13 IPO price.