U.S. Stocks Higher At Open, But Quickly Shed Gains
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks shifted their stance again in early Friday trading, rapidly shedding opening gains in another display of market volatility after the prior day's sell-off.
"Yesterday, for no good reason, the market decided to sell-off; there's a tug of war between folks that believe that we're at or near a bottom, and want to start to look through the first half to the second half, and price in earnings. Then there's a second group that doesn't believe in the 'E' in P-and-E levels, and believes every rally should be sold," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co.
After posting gains at the start, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 35.58 points to 12,248.72, with 19 of its 30 components trading lower.
The S&P 500 fell 5.25 points to 1,337.28, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 9.55 points to 2,290.23.
On Thursday, the major U.S. stock indexes fell more than 1% after data highlighting the slowing economy sank early optimism on the technology sector.
In early commodities trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil prices also turned heels on an earlier rise, with the April-dated light crude price falling 80 cents to $97.43 a barrel.
In broker news, Merrill Lynch took a more bearish view on the future for mortgage finance firms Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae , downgrading the pair to sell from neutral.
Shares in Intuit fell 10% after the software company reported a 21% decline in its fiscal second-quarter profit late Thursday.
Shares in Express Scripts , on the other hand, rose 2.9% after its earnings topped forecasts and revenue also edged higher.
In other earnings news, insurer Fairfax Financial Holdings reported its fourth-quarter profit more than tripled to $563.6 million as successful bets on the mortgage meltdown helped boost its investment income.
AstraZeneca said it will appeal a court ruling in Alabama that awarded over $200 million of damages to the state's Medicaid agency in a dispute over drug pricing.
Motorola Inc. named Paul Liska as its new chief financial officer, effective March 1.
Most Asian markets were in retreat, with exporters weighing on the Japanese market. European stocks were also lower, with the German DAX 30 the biggest faller of the main indexes -- down 1.1% -- after weak results from heavyweight utility RWE.
By Kate Gibson