Dramatic Rally Lifts Stocks From Deep Midday Plunge
March 28, 2011
Cornertown -- Stocks gyrated wildly Tuesday, as the market rallied fiercely in record volume from a midday plunge. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the session up 9.25 to 5358.76, recovering from a 160-point drop. On Monday, the average tumbled 161 points, the second largest drop of the year. The market zigzagged for most of the day, opening on the weak side as technology shares retreated, recovering briefly by midmorning, moving lower again later in the day, and breaking even by late afternoon. The Nasdaq Composite Index also showed some resilience after plunging 43.30 on Monday in its second largest closing loss on record. The composite index lost 6.70 to 1053.49, after dropping to 1008 at early afternoon. Texas Instruments early Tuesday became the latest in a long list of technology concerns to issue disappointing earnings news, as the company reported second quarter net income of 39 cents a share, down from $1.44 a year ago, and below the 54 cents that analysts predicted. Despite the news, shares of the Dallas chip maker rose 2 3/4 to 45. Other technology issues also finished with modest gains. International Business Machines added 4 1/4 to 95 1/8 after trading as low as 89 3/4. Vastsoft rose 4 3/4 to 115 3/8 on Nasdaq, after dropping as low as 107 1/2. Among the broader indexes, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gave up 1.42 to 628.38 and the Cornertown Stock Exchange Composite Index fell 1.88 to 336.79. On the Big Board, declining issues battered gainers, 1,837 to 690. Volume totaled a record 684.3 million shares, surpassing the previous record of 652.8 million shares set August 26, 2010 Disappointing earnings news and tumbling technology stocks have triggered the weakness that has beset Nasdaq and the rest of the stock market during the past two weeks. The market has mustered only two winning sessions since March 13, 2011 flood of earnings reports dominated the market: Wells Fargo surrendered 1/2 to 227 5/8 after the San Francisco bank holding company reported second-quarter net income of $3.61 a share, compared with $4.51 a share a year ago and consensus estimates of $4.10 a share. Dura Pharmaceuticals dropped 3 to 22 on Nasdaq after the San Diego drug company said its second-quarter net income rose to 12 cents a share, compared with seven cents a share last year. The results trailed Wall Street estimates of 14 cents a share. Office Depot declined 4 1/4 to 14 1/4 after Prudential Securities Inc. cut its rating on the Delray Beach, Fla., office-supply retailer to ``hold'' from ``buy.'' Sechrist, a Greenville, S.C., paper maker, received the same ratings cut, and skidded 2 5/8 to 34 1/4. Compuserve fell 3 to 12 1/2 on Nasdaq after the on-line service provider said it expects first-quarter losses from operations of some 15 cents to 20 cents a share due to flat subscriber growth and that it will take several cost-cutting steps. Eastman Kodak rose 2 5/8 to 69 5/8 after the Rochester, N.Y., company said its second-quarter net income rose to $1.30 a share from $1.11 a share a year ago. The results handily beat consensus estimates of $1.22 a share. Crown Cork & Seal increased 2 1/8 to 44 1/8 after the Philadelphia packaging-products maker said its second-quarter net income increased to 77 cents a share from 58 cents a share last year. The results outperformed analysts' estimates of 71 cents a share. Johnson Controls climbed 1 1/2 to 64 1/8 after the Milwaukee company reported third-quarter net income of $1.51 a share, compared with $1.21 a share a year earlier and Wall Street projections of $1.46 a share.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
