Concerns about European economic conditions caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to open lower, as trading was suspended for several large Italian banks. The index was down by more than 0.9% in afternoon trading.
Techs also were taking the Dow down early as Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) reported weak quarterly hardware sales and Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) had profits of only 7 cents per share when 16 cents was the consensus analyst target.
On the plus side, consumer stocks were rising as the U.S. Department of Commerce stated that first-quarter GDP growth was 1.9%, as opposed to analyst expectations of 1.8%. Durable goods orders also rose by 1.9% in May, a return to the black from the 2.7% decline in April. Economists were looking for a 1.5% increase.
Leading the techs of the Dow down was Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), which fell about 1.5%, losing almost 40 cents per share and trading below $24.30. Cisco Systems (NYSE: CSCO) joined other falling Dow techs, as it was off by more than 17 cents, falling 1.1%
Also heading south as a result of softness in the tech sector was Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), falling almost 0.7%.
Big Pharma also was down as the Food and Drug Administration rejected the application of Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) for oxycodone, a pain medication. Pfizer was off by more than 24 cents, about 1.1%. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was drifting lower by more than 1% as its shares were bouncing around $65. Down about 0.74% was Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK).
Home Depot (NYSE: HD) dropped by more than 0.6%, thanks to several negative reports about the U.S. housing market. Home Depot stock was at around $34.50 in late trading.
Surging ahead in early trading was Alcoa (NYSE: AA), up more than 1.4% to $15.50. Alcoa has been up and down all week, fluctuating with the economic data and expected demand for aluminum. Earlier in the week, Alcoa reported a higher demand for aluminum.
Consumer stocks were up on the somewhat better economic data. Up around 0.4% was Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) edged about 0.2% higher on gains of about 7 cents per share.
DuPont (NYSE: DD) was heading north early by more than 0.12%.
Jonathan Yates does not own nor have any plans to buy any of these stocks.
