By Palash R. Ghosh: Subscribe to Palash's RSS feed
July 29, 2010 9:26 PM EDT
Stocks finished an erratic trading session in the red, albeit well above intra-day lows, as investors weighed some good second-quarter earnings reports against a a too-small drop in initial jobless claims, ahead of tomorrow's advance GDP figure for the quarter.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 30.72 points, or 0.29 percent, to 10,467.16. The S&P 500 index slipped 4.60, or 0.42 percent, to 1,101.53. The NASDAQ composite index shed 12.87, or 0.57 percent,to 2,251.69.
Trading volume was light, suggesting many investors remain skeptical of the market's near-term prospects.
Robust profit reports from Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) and ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), among other companies, could not offset disappointment over a slight 11,000 drop in first-time claims for unemployment benefits to 457,000 last week.
Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) sank 6.84 percent as revenues fell short of expectations .
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Bond prices remained essentially unchanged as the yield on the 10-Year Treasury Note stayed flat at 3.00 percent.
Oil prices surged to more than $78 per barrel, perhaps bolstered by a string of solid corporate earnings.
UK/European indices also slipped. Britain's FTSE-100 Index fell 0.11 percent, Germany's DAX lost 0.72 percent, while France's CAC-40 index fell 0.50 percent.
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Weekly Roundup: Asian Markets Fall On Weak China Data And Euro Zone Debt Concerns
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Weekly Roundup: Asian Markets Fall On Weak China Data And Euro Zone Debt Concerns
