Facebook Rallies After Topping Earnings Expectations – Acadiana Business Index

Markets finished lower after an initial push higher. Ken Meyers has your stock market report on the Acadiana Business Index.

• The Dow closed down 25 points to 13077. The S&P 500 Index lost 4 points to 1408 and the NASDAQ decreased nearly 9 points to 2981.
• Stocks erased an early advance after the FOMC statement tempered enthusiasm surrounding today’s economic reports.
• The Fed said the economy continues to grow at only a modest pace and inflation picked up due to higher commodity prices. As a result, investors overlooked encouraging data as Chinese manufacturing output climbed to a three-month high and U.S. home sales for September increased at the fastest pace in two years.
• Mixed earnings reports added to the cautious tone. Facebook rallied by $3.74 to $23.23 after topping earnings expectations, thanks to a ramp up in mobile ads. On the downside, AT&T fell 29 cents to $34.71 after falling short of revenue and new subscription estimates. Netflix also gave up ground as it lost $8.65 to $59.57 after lowering both its domestic and international growth forecasts. Profit tallies will stay in focus after the close with reports due out from Zynga, Symantec and Akamai.
• Overall, NYSE Composite volume totaled over 3.3 billion shares. The NYSE was 5-4 negative on issues and 2-1 negative on volume.
• On the NASDAQ, decliners beat advancers by 9-7 on issues and by 3-2 on volume.
• In fixed-income, Treasuries held onto losses after the government’s auction of $35 billion in 5-year notes. The 10-year note was down 8/32 to yield 1.79% and the 30-year bond lost 28/32 to yield 2.95%.

For the complete report, click Ken's Market Report.