Wall Street Closes Mixed as Earnings Season Begins

Strategic Insights -

Earnings season kicked off on Wall Street with mixed results. Alcoa was the first Dow member to report its quarterly earnings, beating analyst expectations with a profit of 47 cents a share. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up slightly, with Alcoa leading the pack. Other companies, such as Microsoft and IBM, saw their shares decline, while General Motors and General Electric gained ground. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite experienced volatility due to a major acquisition announcement by JDS Uniphase.

Key Takeaways:

  • Alcoa's earnings exceeded analyst expectations, reporting 47 cents a share, beating estimates of 46 cents per share.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 11.31 points to 10,647.29.
  • General Motors, General Electric, and 3M gained ground, while Microsoft, IBM, and Hewlett-Packard saw their shares decline.
  • The Nasdaq composite experienced volatility due to JDS Uniphase's announcement of acquiring SDL for $41 billion.
  • Intel, MCI WorldCom, Cisco, Oracle, and Qualcomm all saw their shares decline.
  • Sun Microsystems and Costco Companies were among the gainers on the Nasdaq.

Statistics:

  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 11.31 points to 10,647.29.
  • Alcoa's earnings beat analyst expectations by 1 cent per share.
  • The S&P 500 closed down 2.32 points to 1,476.58.
  • The American Composite gained 0.08 points to 936.56.
  • The NYSE Composite closed up 1.93 points to 656.29.
  • The Wilshire Smallcap closed up 2.97 points to 853.64.
  • The Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index dropped 22.30 points to 13,826.80.
  • The 10-year Treasury note yielded 6.04 percent, up from 6 percent the previous day.
  • The 30-year Treasury bond yielded 5.88 percent, up from 5.87 percent the previous day.

Sources:

  • Wall Street Journal
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average
  • Nasdaq composite
  • Treasury Department
  • Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan
  • Earnings reports from Alcoa, General Motors, General Electric, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Cisco, Oracle, Qualcomm, and Sun Microsystems
  • Acquisition announcement from JDS Uniphase