Stocks on Thursday gave back Wednesday’s broad advance, as investors recoiled from some disappointing quarterly earnings reports and renewed their concerns about the housing market.
Treasury securities dropped as well, after a disappointing auction of $13 billion in 5-year notes. The auction brought a yield of 4.85 percent, up from 4.70 percent at last month’s 5-year note auction.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 119.21 points, to 12,502.56, the biggest one-day drop this year. Only three of the 30 Dow industrials–General Motors, AT&T and International Business Machines–posted gains. Boeing, McDonald’s and Exxon Mobil were the biggest losers.
Crude oil for March delivery dropped $1.14 a barrel, to $54.23, reflecting an outlook for reasonable temperatures in the Northeast.
After the close of trading, Dow component Microsoft posted better-than-expected results for its second quarter, ended Dec. 31, but issued a cautious forecast.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 16.23, to 1423.90.
Among the notable quarterly report disappointments, drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb fell 71 cents, to $26.28, after the company disclosed a fourth-quarter loss. Many analysts have targeted the so-called Big Pharma stocks as a winning sector for 2007.
On the upside, shares of online auction service eBay jumped $2.45, or more than 8 percent, to $32.45, after it posted upbeat quarterly results late Wednesday. The stock was the biggest percentage gainer in the S&P 500 index.
The third-biggest percentage increase among S&P 500 stocks was scored by Lake Forest-based boat builder Brunswick, which reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter sales. Shares rose $1.45, or 4.5 percent, to $33.35, despite the firm’s disappointing outlook for 2007. JPMorgan upgraded Brunswick to “overweight.”
New York Stock Exchange trading volume reached 1.75 billion shares. Losers outnumbered winners by more than a 3-1 ratio. Nasdaq volume totaled 2.18 billion shares, as losers topped winners by more than a 7-3 ratio.
In addition to the next batch of quarterly reports, traders on Friday will respond to the monthly report of new-home sales. Thursday’s report on December existing-home sales was weaker than expected.
