US stocks were slightly lower in early trade Friday despite Chinese industrial production data that showed strength in the world’s second-largest economy/AFP
NEW YORK CITY, August 9 – US stocks were slightly lower in early trade Friday despite Chinese industrial production data that showed strength in the world’s second largest economy.
About 40 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 23.23 (0.15 percent) at 15,475.09.
The broad based S&P 500 slipped 2.15 (0.13 percent) to 1,695.33, while the tech rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 2.38 (0.06 percent) to 3,666.74
The US economic calendar remained devoid of major releases, leaving the spotlight on Chinese data that showed industrial production rose 9.7 percent, well above analyst expectations of 9.0 percent.
Still, Briefing.com cautioned that “a couple of monthly releases aren’t sufficient to conclude that a major shift in the slowing Chinese growth trend has occurred.”
US stocks have fallen three of the last four days.
Online travel company Priceline jumped 4.9 percent after earnings came in at $9.70 per share, well above the $9.38 forecast by analysts. The company projects a year over year increase of 27-34 percent in travel bookings in the next quarter.
Retailer JC Penney lost 3.8 percent after a public spat broke out between big shareholder William Ackman, a board member, and the chairman of the board of directors over Ackman’s campaign to prod the company to find a new chief executive. Chairman Thomas Engibous said Ackman’s efforts were “disruptive and counterproductive.”
Smartphone maker BlackBerry jumped 6.2 percent following a report that the company is open to going private.
Cloud computing company Rackspace Hosting gained 7.7 percent after earnings came in at 16 cents per share, three cents above expectations.
Nvidia, which develops graphics chips for computers and smartphones, fell 2.0 percent after forecasting third-quarter revenues of $1.05 billion, below the $1.1 billion expected by analysts. Earnings for the second-quarter exceeded expectations by 4 cents per share at 16 cents.
The yield on the 10 year US Treasury edged to 2.60 percent from 2.59 percent Thursday, while the 30 year held steady at 3.67 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
