Stocks on Wall Street were little changed in early trading on Monday as investors faced a busy week for corporate earnings results, but shares of Apple were hit by fears of weakening demand for the iPhone.
The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 0.1 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.1 percent.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index slid 0.3 percent. Apple lost 3.7 percent after reports that it has cut orders for screens and other parts for the iPhone 5 this quarter due to weak demand. Apple suppliers also fell. Cirrus Logic tumbled 4.8 percent, while Qualcomm lost 1.6 percent.
Earnings season picks up the pace this week with reports expected from Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Intel and General Electric. Thirty-eight S.&P. 500 companies are due to report results this week.
Overall earnings were expected to grow by just 1.9 percent for the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data.
“I think there’s going to be more misses than hits in terms of revenue and margins. It’s going to be a little bit light this earnings season compared to the last one,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York. “But the underlying factor is that there’s economic growth and that the global economy is picking up.”
In Europe, shares were mixed. United Parcel Service said it would drop its 5.2 billion euro ($7 billion) bid for Dutch delivery firm TNT Express on the expectation of a veto by the European Commission. U.P.S. was up 0.4 percent. TNT Express shares plunged 42 percent in Amsterdam.
Transocean. an offshore rig contractor, has disclosed that Carl C. Icahn, the billionaire activist investor, has acquired a 1.56 percent stake in the company and is looking to increase that holding. Its shares rose 3.2 percent.
A top Federal Reserve official, Charles Evans, said Monday the American economy was expected to grow by 2.5 percent in 2013, improving to 3.5 percent growth in 2014.
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