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US close: Fed minutes puncture mood
Wed, 08 Feb, 2012
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US close: Fed minutes puncture mood
Tue, 31 Aug 2010, 20:44:00
Wall Street gave back early gains to close little changed after minutes from the US Federal Reserve upset the mood in spite of better than expected consumer confidence figures. The Conference Board's consumer confidence reading had been predicted to decline in August, but rose to 53.5 from July's 51. House prices in 20 US cities rose 4.2% in June from a year earlier, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index. Economists had been expecting an annual increase of around 3.5%. But the Fed soured the mood. Minutes from its August meeting showed wide disagreement about how to handle the US economy's slowdown. Economists suggested this divergence of views could make it difficult for the Fed to do anything to boost the flagging economy. Reflecting that, Dow Jones finished up just 4 at 10,014, while Nasdaq shed 5 at 2,114. The S&P 500 was flat at 1,049. Chip maker <b>Intel</b> was a rare weak spot among Dow-Jones constituents, after the Philadelphia Semiconductor index slumped to its lowest level since 4 February. Exane BNP Paribas was moved to "take a more cautious stance on the sector in the short term." This follows yesterday's $1.4bn purchase of Infineon's wireless chips subsidiary by Intel. Elsewhere on the tech board Blackberry maker <b>Research In Motion</b> was the worst performer among NASDAQ stocks after broker Sanford C. Bernstein said the company's dominance in the corporate smartphone market will increasingly come under attack from competitors. <b>Saks</b> was wanted on rumours a private equity consortium is preparing to pay $1.7bn, or $11 a share, for the top-end fashion retailer. Equipment manufacturer <b>Deere & Co</b> has announced the sale of its wind-energy business to Exelon for $900m. Carl Icahan has increased his offer for Lions Gate Entertainment from $6.50 to $7.50 a share. Icahn already owns 33% of the movie producer. Seeds supplier <b>Monsanto</b> has downgraded expectations for the year to August 2010. Earnings estimates have been cut from $2.60 to $2.45 a share. <b>S&P 500 - Risers</b> Sprint Nxtel Corp. (S) $4.08 +4.62% Dean Foods Co. (DF) $10.23 +4.39% Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (CLF) $61.19 +3.66% CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. (CBG) $16.43 +3.14% Comerica Inc. (CMA) $34.41 +2.90% <b>S&P 500 - Fallers</b> Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) $30.01 -6.28% Monsanto Co. (MON) $52.65 -5.81% Textron Inc. (TXT) $17.07 -4.15% H&R Block Inc. (HRB) $12.84 -3.96% Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) $5.19 -3.89% <b>Dow Jones I.A - Risers</b> AT&T Inc. (T) $27.03 +1.50% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $36.37 +1.45% Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $12.46 +1.14% E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $40.77 +1.12% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $65.16 +1.07% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $35.07 +0.98% <b>Dow Jones I.A - Fallers</b> Boeing Co. (BA) $61.13 -1.56% Intel Corp. (INTC) $17.71 -1.39% 3M Co. (MMM) $78.55 -1.38% Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $20.04 -1.38% Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $50.15 -0.79%
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