Thursday’s Market Recap: Nasdaq Down Despite Solid Earnings From Microsoft

Thursday’s trading session proved to be highly volatile once again as the major U.S. indices ended in a mix. The Dow (^DJI) and S&P (^GSPC) both closed with positive percentages 2.02%, and 1.26%, while the Nasdaq (^IXIC) dropped less than a percent, 0.73%. While solid positive earnings from companies like Microsoft helped boost investor confidence, news releases, like the foreclosure report for the third quarter, played a negative role on Wall Street today.

U.S. foreclosure filings are up 71% this quarter and could possibly get worse as experts anticipate over 1 million bank-owned properties to be piled up on the market. This is problematic because foreclosed homes cause the real estate in an area to lose value, simply because there are so many other properties for sale. 60% of foreclosures are taking place in 6 states: California, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Michigan, and Nevada. The only hardest-hit cities outside of these states on the top 20 list were Atlanta and Detroit. Though these figures are discouraging, foreclosure filings in September were down 12% from August.

Stocks fall in the Asian markets as Japanese exports miss estimate due to a strong yen and falling commodity prices in South Korea. The Nikkei (^N225) falls to a 4-year low in trading today, and closed 2.5% lower. The Hang Seng (^HSI) fell 3.55%, while the Straits Times (^STI) dropped 4.14%. The European markets closed with mixed sentiments as the FTSE (^FTSE) and CAC (^FCHI) make gains of 1.16%, and 0.38% respectively. The DAX (^GDAXI) dropped 1.12%.

Oil rebounded close to 4% today as investors expect OPEC to cut production. OPEC also made a statement earlier today encouraging non-OPEC nations to cut production to help falling energy prices. Oil is still trading under $70, down from its July highs in the $140s. October futures contracts for gold fell $20, or 2.73%. The dollar fell versus the euro during the trading hours of the market today, and is now worth 0.7735 euros per dollar. The yen remained relatively unchanged today, and is trading around 97.770 yen per dollar.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced a 9% increase in their top-line from the third quarter of last year. Per share earnings of $0.48, beat the forecast by $0.01.

Ticketmaster (NASDAQ:TKTM) made an acquisition of Front Line Management Inc. to gain a position in the music industry.  Front Line manages stars such as Neil Diamond, and Christina Aguilera.

AFLAC (NYSE:AFL) posted solid earnings after the bell today. Third quarter EPS beat analysts’ expectations by $0.02 per share. EPS this quarter were $1.02.

Disclosure: The fund the author is associated with holds a long position in AFL.

Subscribe by RSS Subscribe by Email