Mixed Markets Over Earnings
October 17, 2012 at 06:19 AM EDT
The markets traded mixed during the midday with the Dow losing 12 points to 13,539 over mixed corporate earnings. Nasdaq rose 7 points to 3108.On the upsideA greater than expected 15% surge in September housing starts lifted shares of Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV), PulteGroup (NYSE: PHM) and Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH). Dean Foods’ (NYSE: DF) WhiteWave Foods unit priced its initial public offering to raise up to $320 million.Shares of mortgage insurer MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG) climbed on news that housing starts soared last month.On the downsideIBM (NYSE: IBM) reported flat third quarter earnings and lower revenue that fell short of analyst expectations.Apollo Group (NYSE: ABT) reported higher third quarter earnings but revenue slipped to fall short of expectations.Third quarter earnings rose for Textron (NYSE: TXT) but the results missed analyst estimates.In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 7 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 6 points to 842.
