Tuesday, July 10, 2012

More profit warnings hit Wall Street

US stocks fell as several profit warnings from the technology sector added to concerns the economy was losing steam.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 83.17 points, or 0.65 percent, at 12,653.12. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 10.99 points, or 0.81 percent, at 1,341.47. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 29.44 points, or 1.00 percent, at 2,902.33.

European equities bounced up from a technical support level, boosted by the perception that the euro zone is moving closer to putting its rescue fund into action and with thin, summer holiday volumes exaggerating the moves.

The FTSEurofirst 300 closed up 0.9 percent at 1,039.12 points. The EuroSTOXX 50 index of euro zone blue chips, which tends to be more sensitive to the twists and turns of the region's crisis, added 0.6 percent to 2,241.85, with some investors seeing value after a drop of 4 percent in the previous four sessions.
Earlier, Japan's Nikkei share average fell for the fourth straight session, reversing the morning's gains after weaker-than-expected Chinese imports stirred concerns about slowing demand in the world's second largest economy.

The Nikkei closed down 0.4 percent at 8,857.73, as investor sentiment remained caught between recent gloomy data and the vague hopes that it will prompt more easing by central banks.

The Nikkei has now dropped 1.8 percent from a two-month high of 9,136.02 hit on July 4, following a month-long rally. It also landed on a key trend-line that connects the intraday lows of June 4 and June 26-27 around 8,856, which some players interpret as a sign that its bull run since early June is over.