U.S. Stocks Slip in Early Trading
U.S. stocks have slipped in early trading today as investors digested some mixed economic data. Investors continue to remain on the sidelines ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech on Friday at Jackson Hole Wyoming, where global finance ministers and policy makers will meet at the Fed’s annual symposium.
At last check, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index was trading 0.46% lower at13047.55; the Nasdaq Composite Index was trading 0.52% lower at 3065.17 while the S&P 500 Index was trading 0.57% lower at 1402.40.
Earlier today, a data released by U.S. Labor Department showed that weekly jobless claims stood flat at 374,000 as prior week’s jobless claims report was revised to add 2000 more unreported applications.
Meanwhile, a separate report showed that consumer spending increased by 0.4% in the month of July, the biggest leap in last five months, while personal income in July rose by 0.3%.
In some corporate news, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) has agreed to settle a lawsuit related to subprime mortgages filed by shareholders for $590 million. Shareholders had accused Citigroup of keeping a mum over its losses, which the bank incurred between February 2007 and April 2008 due to high exposure in toxic subprime mortgage assets.
Shares of retailers Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ:COST) and Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD) gained after both companies reported better than expected same-store sales for the month of August.
Shares of Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE:P) are soaring following the release of better-than-expected fiscal second quarter revenue.
After the evening bell ring, apparel retailer, Zumeiz (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) is scheduled to report its quarterly results.
On M&A front, Private equity firm Carlyle Group said that it will buy DuPont’s (NYSE:DD) Performance Coatings unit for $4.9 billion.
Elsewhere in Europe, all leading benchmark indexes traded lower as investors wait for the outcome of European Central Bank (ECB) meeting which starts next week even as all eye remain focused on the Fed.
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Post Written By: Ed Liston
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.
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