Wall Street: Wednesday opening
TECHNOLOGY stocks were under pressure after a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter performance at
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 40 points, or 0.38% at 10,569, recovering from earlier losses as investors took advantage of dips in price to buy stocks. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 15 points, or 0.68% at 2,133.
Motorola was down 13 cents at $16.92 on concern over falling sales and profits at its handset division, which accounts for around 40% of the company's total revenues. Nevertheless, the telecom equipment maker reported overnight a rise in net income for the fourth quarter of $489m, or 20 cents a share, compared with $174m, or 8 cents a share a year earlier, as sales grew 4% to touch $8bn.
RF Micro Devices was down 14.6% at $10.47 as a rise in its fourth quarter net income failed to offset a disappointing first quarter outlook. A decline had been expected, but the company's outlook raised concerns on inventory build-up, analyst said.
Advanced Micro Devices, the second-biggest manufacturer of microprocessors, was down 5.1% at $16.50 despite reporting overnight its first quarterly net profit in more than a year. Chip giant Intel was down 37 cents at $32.24.
Financial institutions were in focus for a second session as investors mulled earnings reports from Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan Chase. Merrill posted a 131% surge in fourth-quarter earnings to $1.2bn on a 17% rise in revenues for the period to $4.9bn while JP Morgan reported forecast-beating fourth quarter net income of $1.86bn, or 89 cents a share compared with a 20 cent loss a year earlier, due in part to strength in its investment bank and Chase financial services unit.
JP Morgan's results come a day after Bank One, currently the subject of a $58bn merger bid by the broker, reported a rise in its fourth quarter earnings. Merrill was down 61 cents at $59.57 while JP Morgan was slipped 7 cents at $39.05.
Lucent was down 4.2% at $4.54 after solid gains in the last two sessions for networking equipment suppliers. Today Lucent posted its second quarterly profit in a row, against forecasts for a loss per share. Sales rose 9% to $2.26bn from $2.08bn in the year-ago quarter.
