Strong earnings from the likes of Intel and Yahoo
were no help for stocks on Wednesday, as the broader market tumbled on the latest signs of inflation.
Yahoo gained 4% on the day, and Intel eked out a small gain, but the rest of the market sank under a stronger than expected consumer inflation reading and a Federal Reserve report that expressed concern about inflation pressures and high oil prices.
The Nasdaq fell 18 to 1913, the S&P 500 lost 15 to 1137, and the Dow tumbled 115 to 10,012. Volume rose to 2.2 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.05 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 24-8 on the NYSE, and 21-9 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 84% on the NYSE, and 66% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 16-104 on the NYSE, and 21-144 on the Nasdaq.
After the close, eBay and Motorola
continued the run of strong earnings reports. eBay reported earnings of 20 cents a share, two cents better than analysts were expecting. Revenues rose 36% to $1.032 billion, matching estimates and topping $1 billion for the first time. The online auction king’s forward guidance was pretty much in line with estimates, if a little light on the sales forecast. Motorola trounced estimates with 28-cent earnings and $8.8 billion revenues, and the wireless giant raised guidance too. Qualcomm
warned, however.
During the day, Juniper , Imation
, Real Networks
, Tellabs
and Seagate
rose on their results.
Avaya plunged 25% after the company missed estimates and warned, and Checkfree
lost 9% on its results.