US markets slip as Google Inc. misses earning estimates

19 Oct 2012 Evaluate

The US markets slipped for the first time in four days on Thursday, as Google Inc.’s profit miss highlighted trouble in the tech sector and a rise in jobless claims offset upbeat manufacturing data. Google Inc. unexpectedly released its third-quarter results early, showing the search giant widely missing profit estimates. Also, the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week shot up to a three-month high, reversing a sharp decline in the government’s prior report caused by a seasonal quirk that showed first-time claims at a four-year low. Initial jobless claims rose by 46,000 to 388,000 last week, up from a revised 342,000 the prior week, with the four-week average at 366,000 versus 365,000 the week before. Meanwhile, Pacific Investment Management Company, which runs the world’s largest bond fund, stated that the US credit rating would be cut as the drama over the so-called fiscal cliff plays out.

However, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported regional manufacturing rebounded in October and the Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators climbed 0.6% in September. The factory activity improved modestly in the Philadelphia region in October, rising for the first time since April. The Philly Fed’s business outlook survey rose to a reading of 5.7 from negative 1.9 in September. The index had been in negative territory for five months. Also, the index of US leading economic indicators rose in September by the most in seven months, boosted in part by a jump in permits for home construction that’s helping underpin the expansion. The Conference Board’s gauge of the outlook for the next three to six months increased 0.6 percent after a revised 0.4 percent drop in August that was bigger than initially reported.

In Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel while speaking at the lower house of Parliament proposed setting up of a new fund to help European countries in fiscal distress and also urged that the European Union be empowered to monitor national budgets. The European leaders committed to their goal of creating a euro-area bank supervisor by year-end, pushing divisive questions on cost-sharing into 2013. Leaders will seek to agree on a framework to establish the European Central Bank as the main supervisor by January 1, according to European Union summit in Brussels.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 8.06 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 13,548.90, the S&P 500 finished down by 3.57 points, or 0.24 percent at 1,457.34, while the Nasdaq ended lower by 31.26 points, or 1.01 percent to settle at 3,072.87.

Indian ADRs closed on a mixed note on Thursday, HDFC Bank was down 0.21%, ICICI Bank was down 0.15% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down by 0.13%. On the other hand, Infosys was up by 0.31% and Tata Motors was up by 0.05%.

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