Merck and Yahoo announce layoffs and Apple gives cautious guidance
Stocks at Wall Street registered substantial loses for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, 22 October, 2008. The Dow ended the day with a 514 point drop today following yesterday's 237 point drop. Couple of companies that came out with earning reports announced job cuts on Wall Street today. Market had started the day in the red. Earning reports dominated overall market sentiments. While more companies beat expectations, outlooks, however, leaned negative as companies remained uncertain about the economic environment. All ten sectors posted a loss.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day down by 514 points, to 8,519. The Nasdaq Composite Index, finished lower by 80 points at 1,615. S&P 500 finished lower by 58 points at 896.78.
All thirty Dow stocks ended in the red led by Aloca. The stocks closed lower by 11%.
Among the major companies that reported earnings today, and topped earnings estimates were Apple, McDonald's and Merck. Merck said that it plans to cut 7,200 jobs, or 13% of its workforce.
AT&T and Boeing were two of the bigger names that missed earnings estimates.
The technology sector witnessed lesser losses due to positive reactions to earnings reports from Apple and Yahoo!.
Apple reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings due to strong iPhone sales. The company's outlook for its current quarter, however, was cautious and was well below the market estimates. On the other hand, Yahoo! reported in-line earnings, and the results were better-than-feared. Yahoo said it plans to cut 1,500 jobs, or 10% of its workforce.
Crude prices fell today, and closed at the $65/barrel level for the first time in eighteen months. Prices fell due to a strong dollar and also after the Energy Department reported a more than expected build up in crude inventories for the week ended 17 October.
Crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for December delivery closed at $66.75/barrel (lower by $5.45 or 7.5%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices reached a high of $147 on 11 July but have dropped almost 55% since then. On a yearly basis, crude price is lower by 24%. For this year in 2008, crude prices have dropped 34%.
In the currency market on Wednesday, the dollar soared against the euro and the British pound pressured by further fund repatriation and expectations that the European Central Bank and the Bank of England will move to aggressively cut interest rates in coming months. But the greenback slipped against the yen. The dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, traded at 85.602, up from 84.434 on late Tuesday.
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped 1.5 billion, and for every stock on the rise, six fell. On the Nasdaq, 1.1 billion shares traded, and decliners topped advancers, also by a 6-to-1 ratio.
Initial jobless claims for the week ending 18 October are due ahead of the opening bell tomorrow. Other than that, earning reports will dominate the day once again.
Stocks at Wall Street registered substantial loses for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, 22 October, 2008. The Dow ended the day with a 514 point drop today following yesterday's 237 point drop. Couple of companies that came out with earning reports announced job cuts on Wall Street today. Market had started the day in the red. Earning reports dominated overall market sentiments. While more companies beat expectations, outlooks, however, leaned negative as companies remained uncertain about the economic environment. All ten sectors posted a loss.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day down by 514 points, to 8,519. The Nasdaq Composite Index, finished lower by 80 points at 1,615. S&P 500 finished lower by 58 points at 896.78.
All thirty Dow stocks ended in the red led by Aloca. The stocks closed lower by 11%.
Among the major companies that reported earnings today, and topped earnings estimates were Apple, McDonald's and Merck. Merck said that it plans to cut 7,200 jobs, or 13% of its workforce.
AT&T and Boeing were two of the bigger names that missed earnings estimates.
The technology sector witnessed lesser losses due to positive reactions to earnings reports from Apple and Yahoo!.
Apple reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings due to strong iPhone sales. The company's outlook for its current quarter, however, was cautious and was well below the market estimates. On the other hand, Yahoo! reported in-line earnings, and the results were better-than-feared. Yahoo said it plans to cut 1,500 jobs, or 10% of its workforce.
Crude prices fell today, and closed at the $65/barrel level for the first time in eighteen months. Prices fell due to a strong dollar and also after the Energy Department reported a more than expected build up in crude inventories for the week ended 17 October.
Crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for December delivery closed at $66.75/barrel (lower by $5.45 or 7.5%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices reached a high of $147 on 11 July but have dropped almost 55% since then. On a yearly basis, crude price is lower by 24%. For this year in 2008, crude prices have dropped 34%.
In the currency market on Wednesday, the dollar soared against the euro and the British pound pressured by further fund repatriation and expectations that the European Central Bank and the Bank of England will move to aggressively cut interest rates in coming months. But the greenback slipped against the yen. The dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, traded at 85.602, up from 84.434 on late Tuesday.
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped 1.5 billion, and for every stock on the rise, six fell. On the Nasdaq, 1.1 billion shares traded, and decliners topped advancers, also by a 6-to-1 ratio.
Initial jobless claims for the week ending 18 October are due ahead of the opening bell tomorrow. Other than that, earning reports will dominate the day once again.
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