New York markets mixed at week’s end
Wall Street saw mixed results over the week, with slight gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average but declines on the Nasdaq composite index and the S&P 500. The Dow rose 0.5 percent to 10,843.89, while the Nasdaq dropped 0.9 percent to 2,241.82 and the S&P declined by 0.5 percent to 1,259.02.
Energy was down during the week, as was the mining and house building sectors. Some technology stocks were up, however, as were portions of the pharmaceuticals sector.
In pharmaceuticals, Pfizer peaked Wednesday on reports that it is thinking of selling its consumer products division. Late in the week, as the company said that sales and earnings this year would only reach last year’s levels, there were declines. Pfizer’s shares dropped 1.7 percent on Friday, but still held on to a 2.4 percent gain for the week to end at $25.89.
The technology sector was aided by Cisco Systems’ good news on second-quarter profits and on an optimistic outlook report. Cisco gained 8.6 percent on the week to $19.71. Elsewhere in the sector, computer services company Electronic Data Systems was up 1.8 percent for the week to $25.84, while software company Oracle managed a 3.8 percent gain over the week to $12.86, despite little movement on Friday.
The energy index on the S&P fell 5 percent for the week as oil and gas exploration company EGO Resources dropped 12.8 percent to $68.95. In addition, ExxonMobil was off 3.3 percent to $59.39 and Chevron lost 1.9 percent to $56.41.
In the housing sector, Toll Brothers lost 7.7 percent on the week, to $29.71, after releasing a first-quarter report that showed sales down 29 percent. Merrill Lynch downgraded the company’s stock from “buy” to “neutral”. The week’s decline brought Toll Brothers’ loss to 18.5 percent since the beginning of the year. All this seemed to be an indication that the housing market has hit its peak.
Falling commodity prices sent US Steel down 5.6 percent to $54.96. Meanwhile, gold miner Newmont Mining dropped 7.9 percent to $54.91.
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