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Dow Jones makes January fourth month in a row of gains; Exxon Mobil, UPS in the news
The Dow Jones closed softer overnight, but still managed a 'fourpete', or four months in a row of ending in the green. Precious metals are back in focus, with spot gold pushing higher to US$1748 an ounce.
U.S. equity markets traded in a narrow range overnight after worse-than-expected US housing and manufacturing data tempered modest enthusiasm over Europe's progress on a new fiscal pact.
By the close the Dow Jones had eased 20 points to 12,634, with the NASDAQ ticking up one point to 2813.
During a meeting in Brussels on Monday, European Union leaders agreed to implement the European Stability Mechanism, a permanent rescue fund, in July.
The 500-billion euro fund was originally set to enter into force next year, when a temporary bailout fund expires.
Twenty five of the 27 members of the EU agreed to the pact.
In corporate news, Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) said Tuesday its fourth quarter profits rose as oil prices continued to increase, offsetting weak production.
The company posted $9.4 billion, or $1.97 per share, in earnings for the fourth quarter of 2011, up two percent compared to $9.25 billion, or $1.85 per share, a year ago.
Revenues rose 15.6 percent to $121.61 billion, from $105.19 billion in the same period last year.
Analysts polled by Bloomberg Businessweek had expected $1.97 per share in earnings, on $126 billion in sales.
Delivery service UPS (NYSE:UPS) said Tuesday that fourth quarter net earnings dropped on an expected pension accounting change, but earnings per share actually grew almost 21 percent on an adjusted basis as revenue increased six percent during the period due to strong online shopping trends.
Viagra maker Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Tuesday posted a fourth-quarter profit of $1.44 billion, or 19 cents per share, down from $2.89 billion, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier.
Earnings fell by half due to one-time charges and a drop in US revenue, which was impacted by blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor losing patent protection.
Sales at the blockbuster erectile dysfunction drug maker dipped to $16.75 billion from $17.35 billion a year ago.
Adjusted earnings for the period reached 50 cents per share.
Meanwhile, RadioShack (NYSE:RSH) saw shares plummet 29 percent after it warned late Monday that its fourth quarter earnings will fall far short of expectations.
After the closing bell Tuesday, earnings are due from online bookseller Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and computer hard drive maker Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX).
On the economic front, the Case-Shiller 20-city home price index showed home prices dropped 1.3% month-over-month in November.
The Chicago PMI for January fell 2 percentage points to 60.2, the Institute for Supply Management said.
Economists polled by MarketWatch expected Chicago PMI to fall to 61.5 from 62.2 in December. Although it was the second straight decline, readings above 50 indicate expansion.
Commodities
In NYMEX futures trading, oil for March delivery dropped 68 cents to $98.08 a barrel while gold futures for April delivery rose $3.40 to $1,737.90 an ounce.
Europe
European markets finished broadly higher today with shares in France leading the region. The CAC 40 was up 1.01% while Germany's DAX rose 0.22% and Britain's FTSE 100 was higher by 0.19%.
This was despite new data on Tuesday that showed eurozone unemployment rose to its highest level since the euro single currency was introduced. Seasonally adjusted unemployment among the 17 countries sharing the euro rose to 10.4 percent in December, on a par with an upwardly revised November figure.
