Stocks Flatline at Kickoff
Business News February 19th. 2011, 1:21am
FOX Business: The Power to Prosper
Wall Street started Friday’s session on the fence as the bulls struggle to add onto their latest weekly rally after China hiked reserve requirements for the second time this year.
Today’s Markets
As of 9:33 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.28 points, or 0.01%, to 12316.63, the Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 0.43 points, or 0.03%, to 1339.96 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.42 points, or 0.05%, to 2833.08. The FOX 50 picked slipped 0.59 points, or 0.06%, to 951.19.
The early ambivalence comes after Wall Street overcame inflation jitters on Thursday to land at fresh two and-a-half year highs.
Unlike a busy beginning of the week, there aren’t any major economic or earnings reports scheduled to be released on Friday.
Still, the blue chips are on track for their third consecutive weekly rally and their 11th of the last 12.
However, Wall Street is digesting China’s decision to raise reserve requirements on banks for the second time in 2011, the latest efforts by the Asian giant to prevent its economy from overheating. Some traders remain concerned China will be too aggressive in fighting in inflation, disrupting the global recovery.
In the commodities complex, crude oil jumped $1.13 a barrel, or 1.31%, to $87.49. Gold gained 80 cents a troy ounce, or 0.06%, to $1,385.90.
On the earnings front, Campbell Soup (CPB) slumped 6% to 52-week lows after reporting in-line quarterly results, but slashing its full-year guidance.
Corporate Movers
Calpine (CPN) said it lost 5 cents a share as its revenue declined 4.7% to $1.47 billion last quarter. Analysts had called for EPS of 9 cents on $1.34 billion in revenue. Despite the red ink, Calpine stood by its 2011 guidance.
Global Markets
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 slid 0.53% to 6054.84, Germany’s DAX slipped 0.11% to 7397.36 and France’s CAC 40 declined 0.22% to 4143.37.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 0.06% to 10842.80, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng soared 1.26% to 23595.20 and China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 0.93% to 2899.79.