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US close: Home sales sink Dow
Tue, 07 Feb, 2012
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US close: Home sales sink Dow
Tue, 24 Aug 2010, 21:01:00
Poor house sales data and jitters over economic recovery around the World sent US share prices sliding. The Dow closed down 133 points to 10,040 while Nasdaq dropped 35 points to 2,213. The S&P 500 ended 15 points lower at 1,051. The National Association of Realtors reported sales of existing US homes dropped 27% to an annual rate of 3.83m units in July, much lower than the 4.72m units year-on-year forecast and the 5.3m rate in the previous month. The ending of a tax credit and lack of consumer confidence hit the market. Housebuilders, including <b>Beazer Homes</b> and <b>Toll Brothers,</b> were well down on the back of the figures. Shares in <b>Barnes & Noble</b> dropped after the book seller cut its annual earnings outlook and swung to a first-quarter loss. The group lowered its full year guidance by $0.25 per share due to legal costs incurred in the first quarter as well as anticipated future legal costs, including costs in connection with a proxy contest. It now expects full year net loss per share to be in a range of $0.25 to $0.65 per share. The boss of <b>Burger King</b> described 2010 as "one of the toughest operating environments in history" as the fast-food chain posted a drop in quarterly earnings. Earnings per share slipped to $0.36 in the fourth quarter, including $0.01 of negative impact from currency translation, compared with $0.43 in the same period last year. Worldwide revenues were $623m, down 1% compared to the same period last year. Comparable sales were negative 0.7% compared to negative 2.4% in the same period last year. Disappointing figures from medical devices firm <b>Medtronic</b> knocked the sector, with <b>Stryker</b>, <b>Zimmer</b> and <b>St Jude Medical</b> all falling. <b>Pfizer's</b> cancer treatment Sutent failed in a study to improve survival in patients with a form of lung cancer. Flash memory cards supplier <b>SanDisk</b> is lower because a broker says that NAND memory prices could fall sharply over the next few months. Fears that <b>Dell</b> may be intending to sharply increase its bid for data storage company <b>3Par</b> in order to fight off <b>Hewlett-Packard</b> hit the Dell share price. Elsewhere, the Japanese yen continued rising against other currencies and hit a 15-year high against the US dollar and a nine-year best versus the euro. It rose against 16 major currencies. <b>S&P 500 - Risers</b> Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) $42.15 +1.92% Southern Co. (SO) $36.42 +1.51% Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $12.90 +1.42% Ameren Corp. (AEE) $28.04 +1.37% <b>S&P 500 - Fallers</b> Medtronic Inc. (MDT) $31.21 -10.80% Stryker Corp. (SYK) $43.20 -6.37% Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $38.27 -6.04% Office Depot Inc. (ODP) $3.75 -5.30% <b>Dow Jones I.A - Risers</b> AT&T Inc. (T) $26.72 +0.87% Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) $29.29 +0.48% Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $51.30 +0.31% Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $29.47 +0.20% <b>Dow Jones I.A - Fallers</b> Boeing Co. (BA) $60.93 -3.74% Alcoa Inc. (AA) $10.06 -2.99% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $65.04 -2.69% Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $21.13 -2.54%
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