New York equities markets end positive Friday

In the New York equities markets on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq composite, and the S&P 500 all ended the day and the week in positive territory, although only just in some cases.

The Dow was up 0.2 percent on the day to 10,651.26, with a fractional gain for the week, while the S&P gained 0.2 percent to 1,233.68 on the day and an 0.5 percent rise for the week and the Nasdaq added 0.1 percent to 2,179.74 for the day and a 1.1 percent gain for the week.

Many technology stocks couldn’t seem to find gains despite positive earnings reports.

Google exceeded earnings expectations but missed on its margins forecasts to lose 3.7 percent, $11.54 of their value, to sit at $302.40 at the end of the week even though Prudential had set $400 as its share price target.
Despite the loss on Friday, however, Google was up slightly for the week.

Microsoft also reported that strong sales had led to better earnings than had been expected, but lost 2.90 percent to $25.68 on the day on the disappointment of some that projections weren’t higher. Share values in Microsoft were also down slightly for the week.

EBay bucked the trend after positive earnings reports even though it was down on Friday by 2.6 percent to $41.02. EBay’s gain for the week was 17 percent. Conversely, although Yahoo gained 1.8 percent to $33.53 on Friday, its shares lost 8.3 percent for the week.

Airline stocks did well early in the week but lost ground late due to the new terrorist attacks in London, with the Amex airline index up slightly for the week but down from Wednesday through Friday by 4.8 percent.

The Chinese revaluation of its currency also had an impact when Wal-Mart shares lost 1.5 percent for the week to $49.54 as investors worried that if revaluation continues, the retailer’s costs for goods from China would go up.

Meanwhile, Halliburton gained 9.4 percent on Friday to $53.29 and was up 13 percent on the week after reporting good profits due to new military and energy contracts.

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