President Obama Holds Firm On Higher Taxes For Wealthy Americans, Investors React – Acadiana Business Index

Stocks edged lower on Tuesday. Ken Meyers has your stock market report on the Acadiana Business Index.

• The Dow finished more than 13 points lower at 12951. The S&P 500 ended down 2 points at 1407. The NASDAQ retreated more than 5 points to 2996.
• Market action was choppy with the major averages trading in a narrow range as investors remain focused on the lack of progress in budget negotiations to avoid the fiscal cliff. In an interview Tuesday, President Obama said he is willing to compromise, but held firm on higher taxes for wealthy Americans.
• Telecom was the laggard on the session. Verizon declined 43 cents to $43.67. Darden Restaurant traded down $5.02 to $47.40 after posting disappointing earnings. Industrials and health care were best performing sectors. Railroad Norfolk Southern added 78 cents to $60.21. Edward Lifesciences climbed $4.98 to $91.50 after increasing its earnings forecast for next year. Netflix climbed $10.82 to $86.82 after Walt Disney agreed to give the company exclusive TV rights for its movies. Big Lots rallied $3.23 to $31.27 after posting better-than-expected quarterly results.
• Breadth was on the NYSE was even on both on issues and volume. NYSE Composite volume totaled more than 3.2 billion shares. Decliners on the NASDAQ outpaced advancers by 9-8 on issues, but were even on volume. Treasuries were higher with the 10-year note up 1/8 of a point to yield 1.60%.

For the complete report, Ken's Market Report.