U.S. stocks traded in red in mid-day trading as investors remained
cautious amid talks between Eurozone finance ministers to tackle debt
issues in the region.
S&P 500 Index lost 0.35 percent to trade at 1,310.80. The Dow
Jones Industrial Average fell 0.37 percent to 12,673.10. The Nasdaq
Composite Index dropped 0.53 percent to 2,772.02.
In corporate news, Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) (TSX:RIM.TO)
fell 6.4 percent to $15.91 on the NASDAQ. The Blackberry maker named
Thorsten Heins as its president and CEO, saying its co-CEOs Jim
Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis have stepped down from the position.
Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL) is down 3.9 percent to $34.79 after it
warned of rising costs. The company reported better-than-expected
quarterly earnings, helped by jump in revenue as demand for its oilfield
services increased. Excluding a $15 million charge, after-tax, or 2
cents per share, fourth-quarter earnings per share were $1.00, topping
Wall Street projections of 99 cents a share. Revenue jumped 37 percent
to $7.0 billion, better than analysts' expectations of $6.8 billion.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE:CHK) gained 3.9 percent to $21.79 after
second-largest natural gas producer in the U.S. disclosed plans to
curtail output in response to lower prices. It sees flat or lower total
natural gas production in the U.S. this year, as it plans to curb
production in the Haynesville and Barnett shales as well as cut its dry
gas drilling. Chesapeake plans to postpone its gross operated gas output
by up to 1.0 Bcf per day.
The companies due to report their quarterly results after the market
closes are: CSX (NYSE: CSX), Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN), Albermarle
(NYSE: ALB), Crane (NYSE: CR), Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU),
Polycom (PLCM), among others.
The European markets ended in green amid meeting over Greece debt.
U.K. FTSE 100 closed 0.88 percent higher. German DAX30 gained 0.47
percent and French CAC 40 advanced 0.50 percent.
In the
currency market, the euro gained 0.80 percent against the U.S. dollar to
1.3035, and the British pound edged 0.05 percent higher against the
greenback. The dollar fell 0.11 percent against the Japanese yen to
76.9233.
Crude oil futures strengthened 0.86 percent to $99.18/barrel, while gold futures advanced 1.00 percent.
