Stocks close mixed on disappointing earnings
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Stocks fell at the opening Thursday. (Jan. 14, 2014) Credit: AP
A day after eking out its first record high of 2014, stocks for the most part lost ground Thursday as electronics retailer Best Buy, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and railroad CSX had disappointing earnings news.
Consumer discretionary companies and banks fell the most. Best Buy tumbled 28.59 percent, the most in the Standard & Poor's 500 index, to $26.83.
At the close on Wall Street, the S&P 500 had slipped 0.13 percent to 1,845.89 -- retreating from the all-time high it hit the day before. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 64.93 points to 16,417.01. The Nasdaq composite had a modest gain of 0.09 percent to 4,218.69.
The stock market is "fragile" right now, said Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman. "If something were to go wrong, like if this earnings season continues to disappoint, I think any negative market reaction would be magnified. The market is not as resilient as it was last year."
The company disappointments were not limited to the retailers and banks.
The railroad company CSX warned investors it might be difficult to reach its own profit targets over the next two years because of ongoing weak demand for coal.-- AP
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