Stock indexes were mixed on Friday as gains among commodity producers helped overcome debt-crisis concerns prompted by Fitch Ratings’ warning that it might cut ratings of European nations.
Halliburton and Chevron paced the gains among energy companies. Banking shares in the Standard Poor’s 500-stock index rose 1.2 percent as a group, trimming an earlier rally. Research in Motion fell 11 percent after the company delayed the release of a new generation of BlackBerry devices. Zynga, the largest maker of games for Facebook, declined 5 percent in its first day of trading.
“We’re seeing a market in which there’s very little long-term investor interest,” said David Kelly, chief market strategist for J. P. Morgan Funds in New York. “Europe is still dodging all the major decisions it needs to make in order to fix the problem and I think that the disappointment in that is still dogging the markets right now.”
The S. P. 500 rose 0.3 percent to 1,219.66, after jumping as much as 1.3 percent earlier. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 2.42 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 11,866.39. The Nasdaq composite index rose 14.32 points, to 2,555.33.
The S. P. 500 lost 2.8 percent this week. It slumped Dec. 13 after the Federal Reserve refrained from taking new actions to bolster growth, saying the American economy was maintaining its expansion even as the global economy slowed.
The Treasury’s 10-year note rose 17/32, to 101 11/32. The yield fell to 1.85 percent, from 1.91 percent late Thursday.
Stocks trimmed an early rally after Fitch Ratings lowered France’s rating outlook to negative and put the grades of Belgium, Spain, Slovenia, Italy, Ireland and Cyprus on review for a downgrade, citing Europe’s failure to find a “comprehensive solution” to the debt crisis. It also said all investment-grade countries in the euro region rated below AAA were subject to a review, which Fitch expects to complete by the end of January.
Moody’s Investors Service said on Dec. 12 that it would review the ratings of all European Union countries after a summit meeting of leaders last week did little to ease pressure on the governments in Europe. S. P. placed the ratings of 15 nations, including France and Germany, on review for possible downgrade on Dec. 5.
Energy and raw material companies advanced among groups in the S. P. 500. Chevron added 1.2 percent to $100.86. Halliburton jumped 1.6 percent to $31.76.
Banks climbed, as Wells Fargo jumped 1.4 percent to $25.98 and JPMorgan Chase rose 0.4 percent to $31.89. Bank of America lost 1.14 percent to $5.20.
Friday was the expiration of futures and options contracts on indexes and individual stocks, an event known as quadruple witching, which occurs once every three months.
Adobe Systems, the largest maker of graphic-design software, rose the most in the S. P. 500 after saying first-quarter sales forecast beat some estimates, lifted by demand for tools that design Web pages and create online video. The stock advanced 6.6 percent to $28.20.
Research in Motion dropped 11 percent to $13.44 after saying a new generation of BlackBerrys designed to fuel a comeback would not be out until the latter part of 2012. The smartphone maker, which originally planned to release the new devices in the first quarter of next year, also gave sales and profit forecasts that missed analysts’ estimates.
Cablevision Systems, the cable television provider, tumbled 8.5 percent to $12.75. Its chief operating officer, Tom Rutledge, will step down this month for undisclosed reasons. Craig Moffett, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, called it a “staggering loss” for the company.
The Consumer Price Index last month was unchanged, after a 0.1 percent decline the previous month, a report from the Labor Department showed. That supported the Federal Reserve’s view that inflation remains in check.
The November figure compares with a 0.1 percent increase forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 82 economists.
So-called core prices, which exclude food and energy costs, rose 0.2 percent, more than forecast, reflecting higher medical care and clothing costs.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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