Stocks pared losses to finish mixed on Wednesday. Ken Meyers has your stock market report on the Acadiana Business Index.

  • The Dow recovered from a 120 point decline to close down 33 points at 14526. The S&P 500 was lower by less than a point at 1562. The NASDAQ gained 4 points to 3256. The NASDAQ was even on issues and 3-2 positive on volume.
  • The major averages ended Wednesday’s session little changed as investors weighed the political uncertainty in Italy and ongoing bailout for Cyprus.
  • On the economic front, a report showed pending home sales dipped 0.4% in February compared to a revised 3.8% increase in the prior month.
  • Telecom was the worst performing sector in the S&P 500 Wednesday. Shares of Verizon declined 1.1% to $48.94.
  • Financials and technology were also laggards on the session. JP Morgan fell 1.8% to $47.77. Apple lost 2.0% to $452.08 while Google slipped 1.2% to 802.66.
  • Cliffs Natural Resources was a notable decliner. Shares of the coal producer shed 13.9% to close at $18.46 after an analyst downgraded the stock.
  • Utilities and health care were the best performing groups. Duke Energy added 1.1% to $71.72. Humana gained 3.0% to $68.72 after congressional researchers said the U.S. Medicare program has the authority to increase payment to insurers.
  • Breadth on the NYSE was 9-8 positive on issues and even on volume. NYSE Composite volume totaled more than 2.8 billion shares.
  • Treasuries were higher with the 10-year note up 19/32 to yield 1.84%.

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

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