IBT: US stocks pare gains after consumer sentiment report
US stocks pared earlier gains and are trading modestly lower on Friday after a report showed that US consumer sentiment fell in September.
The S&P 500 Index declined 1.71 points, or 0.15 percent, to trade at 1,122.98 at 10:15 a.m. EDT. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 21.72 points, or 0.20 percent, to trade at 10,573.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.09 percent.
Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, which measures the level of consumer confidence in economic activity, declined to 66.60 in September from 68.90 in the previous month and against analyst’s estimation of 70.00.
Earlier stocks opened with gains as strong quarterly earnings from Oracle Corp. and Research in Motion (RIM) in late Thursday buoyed sentiment.
Oracle Corp. shares surged 6.37 percent as its first quarter net income surged 20 percent to $1.35 billion on the back of strong sales of new software and hardware.
Research in Motion shares advanced 1.69 percent after the company’s second quarter earnings per share surged 76 percent to $1.46, as revenue rose 31 percent to $4.6 billion.
Crucell NV shares surged 54.92 percent after Johnson & Johnson (J&J) said it is in advanced talks to buy shares of Dutch vaccine maker Crucell NV that is does not already own for about 1.75 billion euros ($2.3 billion), or 24.75 euros a share, in cash.
The Department of Labor reported that Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.3 percent in August on higher energy and food prices. Core CPI, excluding food and energy, was unchanged compared with 0.1 percent gain in July and analysts expectation of 0.1 percent gain.
The euro declined 0.10 percent to 1.3064 against the dollar and the yen advanced 0.06 percent against the greenback.
Crude oil futures declined 0.79 percent and copper futures rose 0.76 percent. In precious metal sector, gold futures advanced 0.34 percent and silver futures fell 0.08 percent.
European stocks pared earlier gains and are currently trading lower with FTSE 100 down by 3.78 points, DAX30 down by 11.13 points and CAC 40 down by 3.27 points.
