The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
- Stocks dip after biggest day in a year
- OPEC: Venezuela's oil reserves top Saudi Arabia
- Intel, Qualcomm show changing face of computing
| Stocks dip after biggest day in a year Posted: 20 Jul 2011 07:55 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP): A rally over hopes for a debt-limit deal turned into a waiting game for investors. One day after the Dow Jones industrial average had its best day this year, the stock market edged lower on Wednesday. Analysts say concerns about lifting the U.S. debt limit outweighed strong earnings from Apple and a slew of new corporate deals. "In this environment, stringing together a few days like yesterday is going to be tough," said Brad Sorensen, director of market analysis at Charles Schwab. Apparent progress on raising the U.S. debt limit launched a stock market rally Tuesday. The Dow jumped 202 points, its best day this year. But investors woke up Wednesday to find Washington still at a stalemate. And with less than two weeks before the government risks defaulting on its debt, they are finding it hard to continue the celebration. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 15.51 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 12,571.91. The S&P 500 index dropped 0.89 point to 1,325.84. The Nasdaq fell 12.29 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,814.23. Apple Inc. rose 2.7 percent after the company's income doubled last quarter. Sales of Apple's iPhones quadrupled in Asia. The stock of Zillow, a real estate website, jumped 79 percent in its first day of trading to $35.77. Zillow's initial public offering of stock priced at $20 late Tuesday. Clorox rose 2.4 percent after billionaire investor Carl Icahn raised his bid for the company to $80 a share. The consumer products company rejected his previous offer. News of record earnings and new deals would usually brighten investors' mood, Sorenson said. In the current earnings season, for instance, some 75 percent of companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index have beaten analysts' estimates. But larger worries about debt troubles in the U.S. and Europe are holding the market back. "It's causing investors and businesses and consumers to be concerned about the future," he said. European Union officials plan to meet at an emergency summit Thursday in Brussels. Many expect EU members to drum up a new aid package for Greece. Worries about Europe's debt crisis have plagued markets for months. The results of stress tests on European banks released last week failed to calm fears that the crisis could soon turn worse. The tests didn't take into account the possibility that most analysts are worried about: a default by Greece or Portugal, two of the countries most at risk. E-Trade Financial Corp. gained 13.7 percent, more than any other stock in the S&P 500 index. E-Trade's largest shareholder urged the online discount brokerage to consider putting itself up for sale. In a letter to E-Trade disclosed in a regulatory filing, the money manager Citadel LLC called for changes to the company's board, saying E-Trade's "phenomenal franchise" had been "squandered." Cleaning and pest-control services company Ecolab Inc. said it would buy the water treatment company Nalco Holding Co. for $5.4 billion. Nalco soared 24 percent while Ecolab dropped 7.3 percent. Tuesday's rally turned the three major indexes positive for the month. The Dow and Nasdaq are now up more than 1 percent in July. The S&P 500 is up 0.4 percent. Rising stocks outpaced falling ones by a small margin on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume was below average at 3.5 billion shares. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| OPEC: Venezuela's oil reserves top Saudi Arabia Posted: 20 Jul 2011 07:54 PM PDT Published: Thursday July 21, 2011 MYT 7:12:00 AM |
| Intel, Qualcomm show changing face of computing Posted: 20 Jul 2011 07:53 PM PDT SAN FRANCISCO (AP): The changing face of the computer industry was on display Wednesday as two companies representing the old guard and the new issued strong results for the latest quarter. Intel, a bedrock of the PC business, and Qualcomm, a vanguard in mobile computing, showed how companies at opposite ends of the computing spectrum are adapting to a market that's in intense upheaval. Intel's net income rose 2 percent to $2.95 billion as revenue jumped 21 percent to $13 billion. The world's No. 1 maker of PC processors benefited from healthy demand from corporations and in emerging markets. It also rode the popularity of smartphones and tablet computers in selling the chips powering servers that handle the increased mobile traffic. CEO Paul Otellini said the results left him with "increasing confidence" for the second half of the year. Meanwhile, Qualcomm's net income rose 35 percent to $1.04 billion, and revenue rose 34 percent to $3.62 billion. The maker of wireless chips credited robust smartphone adoption. The company raised its guidance. Taken together, Intel's and Qualcomm's numbers demonstrate two things: _ The rise of mobile gadgets and weakness in the consumer PC market in U.S. and Europe have profoundly transformed Intel's business. _ Those changes are benefiting companies such as Qualcomm as they assume a more prominent role in the semiconductor world. But investors' dismissive reaction to the reports underlined that the companies are still subject to different sets of expectations, even as their businesses overlap more. After the results came out late Wednesday, Intel Corp.'s stock fell 34 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $22.62, apparently because of fears that the PC market is so wobbly that Intel's forecasts might be too high. Qualcomm Inc.'s stock declined $1.50, or 2.6 percent, to $55.77 as some investors expected even stronger results. Left unspoken in both company's reports was Apple Inc., whose introduction of the iPhone in 2007 and the iPad last year have single-handedly launched the computer industry in two new directions, leading to a reshuffling of the established order. Apple on Tuesday reported blowout quarterly results, and its stock are headed toward an all-time high of $400. Apple has now sold nearly 29 million iPads. In the latest quarter, it sold five times as many iPhones as it did Mac computers. Qualcomm is a key Apple supplier, and investors are hoping that the company can win more business - possibly by replacing iPhone chips now made by the wireless-chip division of Germany's Infineon Technologies AG, which Intel bought last year for $1.4 billion. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Star Online: Business To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan