After Market: Concern Over Ukraine Restrains Stock Gains
The market paused Thursday as investors digested the latest developments in Ukraine, new economic data and a slew of corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) ended flat, but the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) gained 3 points and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) rose 21.
The Nasdaq was led by Apple (AAPL), which jumped more than 8 percent after posting better than expected earnings, declaring a big stock split and buying back another $30 billion in stock.
%VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%Amazon.com (AMZN) rose 4 percent, but Netflix (NFLX) fell nearly 3 percent. It's down for a second day in a row on Amazon's deal to carry many of HBO's older shows. Content is king for these firms, and Amazon has been racking up some big victories lately.
Facebook (FB) was slightly lower even though earnings tripled from a year ago, on strong advertising revenue. Facebook shareholders have nothing to complain about. Over the past year, the stock has soared more than 130 percent.
Caterpillar (CAT) was one of the best performers on the Dow 30. It gained 2 percent as earnings easily beat expectations and the company raised its outlook for the year. But that was offset by Verizon (VZ), which fell 2.5 percent, as earnings come in a bit short. 3M (MMM), meanwhile, fell 1 percent. Its earnings were slightly below expectations.
Also on the earnings scorecard:
United Continental Holdings (UAL) slid 10 percent after posting a big loss.
General Motors (GM) fell by less than 1 percent. Earnings were solid, but revenue was weak.
It was the same story for Qualcomm (QCOM). It fell 3.5 percent, as net beat the Street, but revenue fell short.
On the upside, Aetna (AET) gained 6 percent as earnings topped expectations, while homebuilder D.R. Horton (DHI) jumped 8 percent. Its profit rose, helped by rising home prices. That boosted Lennar (LEN) and other builders.
Elsewhere, Zimmer Holdings (ZMH) -- known for its artificial knees and hips -- rose 11 percent after agreeing to buy privately owned Biomet. And Elizabeth Arden (RDEN) jumped for a second day in a row, up 13 percent today on a report it hired Goldman Sachs to advise it about a potential bid to be acquired.
What to Watch Friday:
The University of Michigan releases its final survey of consumer sentiment for April at 10 a.m. Eastern time.
These major companies are due to release quarterly financial statements:
-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.
