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Stocks Up Ahead of 3Q Earnings Reports

Posted on: Monday, 11 October 2004, 06:00 CDT

NEW YORK - Stocks moved higher Monday in light Columbus Day trading as investors awaited the impending tide of third-quarter profit reports, hopeful the news would override worries about record oil prices and a sputtering recovery.

With no major economic or earnings data to drive the market, investors appeared to be betting that the quarterly reporting season might divert attention from Friday's disappointing employment report.

Despite a spate of worrisome previews over the past month, analysts expect the companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 to show at least a 10 percent increase in profits from a year ago, and investors are hoping the newly tempered outlook will enable most of the reports to top Wall Street forecasts.

The early tide of reports on the just-ended quarter was slated to begin Tuesday with updates from Intel Corp., Yahoo! Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. Other big names reporting later in the week included General Motors Corp. and Citigroup Inc. In all, more than 100 companies were scheduled to report by week's end.

Oil future prices were hovering slightly higher than Friday's record finish above $53 a barrel despite assurances from Middle East countries that they were committed to keeping the market well supplied as a strike began in Nigeria, Africa's largest exporter of crude.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 22.27, or 0.2 percent, at 10,077.47.

Broader market measures also rose. The Nasdaq composite index was up 3.85, or 0.2 percent, at 1,923.82, and the S&P 500 index was up 1.22, or 0.1 percent, at 1,123.36.

While most U.S. financial markets were open for the holiday, there were no major economic or earnings reports due Monday.

Among the Dow 30, The Home Depot Inc. was up 92 cents at $39.94; American International Group Inc. was up 81 cents at $67.71; and Altria Group Inc. was up 49 cents at $47.

In the technology group, Micron Technology Inc. was down 28 cents at $11.73 and Texas Instruments Inc. was down 61 cents at $21.41 after Deutsche Bank lowered its ratings on the two semiconductor makers.

"Investors seem to be as confused about the direction of the stock market as voters are about the outcome of next month's election," said Dick Dickson, market analysts for Lowry Research.

Advancing and declining issues were nearly even on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market. NYSE volume totaled 399.87 million, down from 558.29 million at the same point on Friday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 0.56, or 0.1 percent, at 575.09.

Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.1 percent, Germany's DAX index was up 0.1 percent, and France's CAC-40 was down 0.3 percent. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.

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New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

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