Markets Mixed in Early Trading

The Standard Poor’s 500-stock index rose for a seventh consecutive day, its longest streak of advances since October 2006.

The index traded briefly above the 1,500 level for the first time since Dec. 12, 2007, but retreated before the close. It ended the day with a gain of 0.01 point, or zero percent, at 1,494.82.

Apple slid $63.51, or 12.35 percent, to $450.50, a day after it posted revenue and iPhone sales that were below expectations.

The decline wiped out nearly $60 billion in Apple’s market capitalization, to $423 billion, leaving the company vulnerable to losing its status as the most valuable company in the nation. In second place is Exxon Mobil with $416.5 billion in market capitalization.

“The market has sent the message it is no longer driven by the whims of Apple,” said Ken Polcari, director of the N.Y.S.E. floor division at O’Neil Securities in New York.

Economic data helped buoy equities as factory activity grew the most in nearly two years in January and new claims for jobless benefits dropped to a five-year low last week, giving surprisingly strong signals on the economy’s pulse.

At the same time, Chinese manufacturing grew this month at the fastest rate in about two years, while data suggesting German growth picked up raised hopes for a euro zone recovery.

The manufacturing index “in Asia, Europe, and obviously, here in the United States, is moving in the right direction, and that’s stuff people should be excited about,” Mr. Polcari said.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 46 points, or 0.33 percent, to 13,825.33.

The Nasdaq composite index dropped 23.29 points, or 0.74 percent, to 3,130.38, with most of that loss on Apple’s slide.

The video streaming service Netflix surprised Wall Street on Wednesday with a quarterly profit after it added nearly four million customers in the United States and abroad. Netflix shares surged $43.60, or 42.22 percent, to $146.86, its biggest percentage jump ever.

Earnings have helped drive the stock market’s recent rally. Thomson Reuters data through early Thursday showed that of the 133 S. P. 500 companies that had reported earnings so far, 66.9 percent had exceeded expectations, which was above the 65 percent average over the last four quarters.

Interest rates were also steady. The Treasury’s benchmark 10-year note fell 7/32, to 97 31/32, and the yield rose to 1.85 percent from 1.83 percent late Wednesday.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss