Thursday April 17, 04:07 PM
US open: Leading stocks mixed
LONDON (ShareCast) - The US market is holding up well in the face of some disappointing company results, with Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER - news) 's
first quarter sub-par performance quenching any enthusiasm engendered by IBM (NYSE: IBM - news) 's better than expected results announced after the bell yesterday.The major indices are mixed, with the Dow Jones (news) 30 up 8 at 12,627, while the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite (NASDAQ: news) both retreat. The former is down less than a point at 1,364 and the latter is 10 points easier at 2,339. Merrill Lynch reported a big first-quarter loss following further write-downs and said it plans to cut about 4,000 jobs, or about 10% of its workforce. The company swung to a net loss of $1. 96bn compared with net earnings of $2.16bn in the first quarter of 2007. IBM posted quarterly results late Wednesday that beat forecasts, while online auction firm eBay raised is guidance for the year after it posted better than expected revenue. On the downside, Nokia (Xetra: 870737 - news) said profit was below expectations while drugs firm Pfizer (NYSE: PFE - news) said first-quarter profit was down 18%. Drugs company Pfizer is looking a bit sickly after its first quarter profit eased 18% as the company's products felt the heat of competition from generic drugs. Harley Davidson (NYSE: HOG - news) skids lower after the company announced job cuts accompanying reduced profits, and said it would cut back planned motorcycle sales by 27,000 units this year.
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