Star-Bulletin news services
Stocks edge higher
despite earnings
NEW YORK >> A batch of mixed earnings reports flustered Wall Street yesterday as investors searched in vain for strong evidence of a resurging economy by year's end. Stocks lurched up and down before ending the session modestly higher.
Strong profits from Eastman Kodak and Amazon.com gave a boost to the Dow Jones industrials and Nasdaq composite, while Sun Microsystems weighed on the Standard & Poor's 500 index, analysts said.
"The earnings picture has been mixed -- one day you have some pretty good earnings and guidance, the next day you get some not-so-great earnings and guidance," said Jeff Swensen, senior trader at John Hancock Funds. "That's creating a lot of volatility."
The Dow closed up 35.79, or 0.4 percent, at 9,194.24.
The broader market also edged higher. The Nasdaq rose 13.08, or 0.8 percent, to 1,719.18. The S&P 500 inched up 0.50, or 0.1 percent, to 988.61.
Advancing issues narrowly outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume was moderate at 1.68 billion shares, compared with 1.44 billion traded Tuesday.
The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller company stocks, rose 2.14, or 0.5 percent, to 466.14. The NYSE composite index gained 11.51 to 5,538.62. The American Stock Exchange composite index inched up 1.89 to 951.27.
Investors have been watching the second-quarter earnings season for proof of a solid economic recovery after having sent stocks sharply higher since March. But while profits have been largely better than expected, company outlooks have been somewhat tepid, leading to choppy trading.
Gainers included Amazon .com, which surged $5.24, or 15 percent, to $40.11, after the Internet retailer posted operating earnings that came in 4 cents higher than estimates; it also boosted its full-year sales projections.
Dow component Eastman Kodak advanced $2.27, or 9.2 percent, to $26.86 after the photography company posted sharply lower second-quarter income; excluding one-time items, however, its profits handily beat estimates. The company also is cutting between 4,500 and 6,000 jobs, citing a three-year slump in film sales.
But AOL Time Warner dropped $1.14, or 6.8 percent, to $15.71 although the media company reported earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations. The profit came on one-time gains including the sale of a 50 percent stake in Comedy Central and a settlement with Microsoft.
And Sun Microsystems slid 92 cents, or 19.3 percent, to $3.85 after the software maker posted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenues that missed Wall Street's estimates.
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