NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks retreated from their highs Wednesday afternoon after Spain became the latest European country to have its debt ratings cut by Standard & Poor's. Major indexes were narrowly mixed.
Spain's downgrade comes a day after S&P cut its ratings on Greece and Portugal, which sent stocks plummeting. Greece's debt was slashed to junk status. "Greece and Portugal will be Europe's subprime problem," said John Lekas, portfolio manager at Leader Capital in Portland, Ore. A drop in stocks from the latest downgrade was being tempered by another strong batch of earnings. Comcast, Northrop Grumman and Dow Chemical all posted better-than-expected results. Trading was muted ahead of an announcement from the Federal Reserve about interest rates. Stocks had been higher earlier in the day after European leaders reassured investors that Greece would receive bailout money in time to cover $11.3 billion in debt payments coming due on May 19. German leaders said their country's portion of a nearly $60 billion bailout for Greece could be approved by the end of next week. Germany, the largest of the 16 countries that use the euro, has been demanding further spending cuts from Athens before it approves the bailout package. Debt concerns across Europe have sent the euro sharply lower in the last few months. The euro fell against the dollar again on Wednesday, touching its lowest level in a year. In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 44.43, or 0.4 percent, to 11,036.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 6.41, or 0.5 percent, to 1,190.12, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 4.40, or 0.2 percent at 2,467.07. Earnings provided a boost to stocks early in the day. Cable company Comcast Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Dow Chemical Co. were the latest companies to top earnings expectations. Tim Courtney, chief investment officer at Burns Advisory Group in Oklahoma City, said that improving sales at companies like Dow Chemical prove the economy is on the mend. "It indicates consumers may be getting back on their feet," Courtney said. Dow Chemical was the biggest winner, jumping $1.64, or 5.5 percent, to $31.71. Comcast rose 27 cents to $18.73, while Northrop Grumman rose 95 cents to $68.13. The Nasdaq was hurt by disappointing sales and outlooks from chain restaurants Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. and Panera Bread Co. Buffalo Wild Wings shares dropped $9.36, or 18.3 percent, to $41.65, while Panera Bread fell $5.37, or 6.2 percent, to $80.86. About four stocks rose for every three that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 682.4 million shares, compared with 763.6 million shares traded at the same time on Tuesday. Bond prices dipped after surging higher a day earlier. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.75 percent from 3.69 percent late Tuesday. Gold and oil both rose. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was flat at 721.27. Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.3 percent, Germany's DAX index dropped 1.2 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 1.1 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average tumbled 2.6 percent. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Stocks-pull-back-after-Spains-apf-272964138.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode= -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en.
