BLBG: U.S. Stocks Drop for 3rd Day as Investors Analyze Data
U.S. stocks dropped, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down for a third day, as investors weighed corporate earnings and reports showing durable-goods orders and jobless claims rose.
The S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent to 1,683.04 at 9:30 a.m. in New York. The equity benchmark completed its first two-day drop in a month yesterday.
“Investors are watching economic data, with a special focus on anything on the labor market,” said Martin Schlatter, a fund manager at Swiss Rock Asset Management AG in Zurich, which oversees about $1.1 billion. “Looking forward to the next few quarters, sales figures will have to rise and it’s not clear where those impulses are going to come from.”
The S&P 500 declined the most in a month yesterday as investors weighed global manufacturing reports and corporate earnings for clues on when the Federal Reserve may scale back its asset purchases. Support from central banks and better-than-estimated corporate earnings have driven the S&P 500 (SPX) up as much as 151 percent from its March 2009 low.
The Fed has said economic data will determine the timing and pace of any reduction in its $85 billion in monthly bond-buying.
Orders for U.S. durable goods rose more than forecast in June, showing a pickup in demand. Bookings for goods meant to last at least three years increased 4.2 percent after a revised 5.2 percent gain in May that was bigger than initially reported, the Commerce Department said. The median forecast of 79 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 1.4 percent advance.
Jobless Claims
A separate report showed more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as annual auto-plant shutdowns continued to affect data. Jobless claims rose by 7,000 to 343,000 in the week ended July 20 from a revised 336,000 the prior period, Labor Department figures showed.
Of the 233 S&P 500 companies that have posted quarterly results, 74 percent have exceeded analysts’ profit estimates and 57 percent have beaten sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Some 56 members of the index, including Amazon.com Inc., Starbucks Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. release results today.
To contact the reporter on this story: Corinne Gretler in Zurich at cgretler1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net
