After Market: 6-Day Win Streak Ends on Earnings, Home Sales

DailyFinance Staff
Updated

All good things must come to an end, including the six-day winning streaks for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. The market rally ran out of steam amid some disappointing earnings news and a surprisingly weak report on home sales.

The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) fell 12 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) lost 4 and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) dropped 34 points.

Telecom and tech stocks led the decline. Many of the Nasdaq's momentum plays were a bit played out today. Netflix (NFLX) and Tesla Motors (TSLA) both fell about 5 percent. Facebook (FB), ahead of its earnings report, lost 2.5 percent, Amazon.com (AMZN) and Google (GOOG) lost 1.5 percent.

Amgen (AMGN) slid 5 percent after an earnings miss. Its net tumbled from a year ago. But fellow biotech Gilead Sciences (GILD) gained 1.5 percent as its net tripled, led by strong sales of its controversial and very expensive drug to treat hepatitis.

%VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%Also beating expectations, Boeing (BA) gained 2.5 percent. It also raised its outlook for the rest of the year. That helped rival aerospace giants Lockheed Martin (LMT) and General Dynamics (GD), both up more than 3 percent.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) rose 6 percent, leading the transportation sector higher. It reported strong earnings despite the slew of flight cancellations during the winter.

The Internet money transfer firm Xoom (XOOM) did just that -- zoomed ahead by 17 percent after beating expectations. And the shoe retailer, Skechers USA (SKX), rose 4.5 percent. Over the past year, it's raced ahead by more than 70 percent.

On the downside:

  • AT&T (T) fell 4 percent even though its net was in line with expectations.

  • VMware (VMW) fell 9 percent.

  • EMC (EMC), off 3 percent.

  • Juniper Networks (JNPR) fell 4 percent.

  • Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) slid 11 percent.

Homebuilders were under pressure following a big drop in new home sales. D.R. Horton (DHI) and Toll Brothers (TOL) fell about 2 percent.

Elsewhere, Plug Power (PLUG) fell 4.5 percent after announcing a secondary stock offering of 15 million shares, and Elizabeth Arden (RDEN) jumped 12 percent on word that it may be a takeover target.

What to Watch Thursday:

  • The Commerce Department reports durable goods orders for March and jobless claims for the week ending April 19 -- both at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.

  • Freddie Mac releases weekly mortgage rates at 10 a.m.

These major companies are scheduled to release quarterly financial statements:

  • 3M (MMM)

  • Aetna (AET)

  • Altria Group (ALTR)

  • Amazon.com (AMZN)

  • American Airlines Group (AAL)

  • Caterpillar (CAT)

  • General Motors (GM)

  • Microsoft (MSFT)

  • Southwest Airlines (LUV)

  • Starbucks (SBUX)

  • Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT)

  • United Airlines (UAL)

  • UPS (UPS)

  • Verizon Communications (VZ)

  • Visa (V)

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.

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