Wall Street: Wednesday close

13 April 2012

STOCKS were unable to shake off lethargy induced by interest rate worries and wobbled to a mixed finish as investors shrugged off a $10.5bn bank merger and a bullish upgrade of Dell.

Those developments and a very upbeat reading of business activity in the services sector by the Institute for Supply Management helped kept shares afloat for most of the session, but persistent rate worries ultimately stifled the advance.

'The market rallied a bit on the ISM numbers, but it seems to be a subdued rally,' said David Hegarty, head trader at Commerzbank Securities. 'The interest rate scenario obviously has been hanging over our heads and that will keep pressure on the equity market.'

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 6.25, or 0.1%, to 10,310.95.

The broader gauges were modestly higher. The Nasdaq composite index added 6.78, or 0.4%, to 1957.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed up 2.03, or 0.2%, at 1121.58.

The market was still absorbing Tuesday's statement from the Federal Reserve, which left interest rates unchanged but suggested the Fed was now inclined to push them higher as the economy continues to improve.

Analysts said trading was likely to remain volatile as the market further digests the Fed's revised position, along with other concerns that have overshadowed generally strong economic data and corporate earnings.

'Investors are focused almost totally on Iraq, concern over interest rates and who might be living in the White House next year, and they're continuing to ignore the very positive economic fundamentals,' said Alfred E Goldman, chief market strategist with AG Edwards & Sons in St Louis. 'It's very choppy because people are not looking beyond the end of their noses.'

The next market-moving data will be released on Friday, with the Labour Department's April jobs report. Economists are forecasting an increase of 165,000 non-farm payroll jobs. But last month's surprise of 308,000 new jobs has many second-guessing those estimates.

Among Wednesday's winners on the Dow, Coca-Cola was up 82 cents at $51.09 after naming a former top official for one of its bottlers as its new chairman and chief executive. The appointment of E Neville Isdell to succeed retiring CEO Doug Daft ended months of speculation over who would be the next leader of the world's largest beverage maker.

Charter One Financial soared $7.91, or 22%, to $43.86, after the Royal Bank of Scotland announced plans to buy it for $10.5bn through its Citizens Financial Group subsidiary. The combined entity would be one of the 10 largest banks in the United States.

Dell rose 40 cents to $35.71 on an upgrade from Banc of America Securities, which raised its annual forecast on improved margins and computer and notebook sales forecasts.

Oil services shares declined after Banc of America lowered its rating on the sector, citing volatility and an expected drop in drilling activity. Schlumberger lost 79 cents to $58.39, and Halliburton fell 31 cents to $29.74.

Rsing iissues slightly outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was light.

The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller company stocks, was up 0.42, or 0.1%, at 570.06.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in