AT&T, HP, Alcoa: Dow Movers
NEW YORK (
) -- Stocks slumped Thursday with the major U.S. equity indices weighed down by
disappointing housing and jobless claims data
.
New single-family home sales dropped 2.2% to 307,000 in December, while initial jobless claims rose 21,000 last week to 377,000.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
lost 22.33 points, or 0.18%, to 12,734.63 on Thursday. The
S&P 500
fell 7.6 points to 1,318.45 and the
Nasdaq Composite
finished 13.03 points lower at 2,805.28.
Breadth within the Dow was negative with 23 of the index's 30 components giving up ground
Cisco
(CSCO) - Get Report
ended Thursday flat.
The biggest decliners Thursday were
AT&T
(T) - Get Report
,
HP
(HPQ) - Get Report
and
Alcoa
(AA) - Get Report
.
AT&T shares fell 2.52% to $29.45. The telco giant beat analysts' fourth-quarter revenue estimates, boosted by sales of
Apple's
iPhone 4S
but its earnings trailed the average analysts' view
.
TheStreet Ratings
gives AT&T an A- grade with a
price target.
Shares of HP fell 1.17% to $27.99. This company receives a C grade from
TheStreet Ratings
as well as a hold rating.
Alcoa shares dropped 1.15% to $10.36.
TheStreet Ratings
has a C- grade and hold rating on the aluminum company.
The biggest percentage gainers among the blue chips were
Caterpillar
(CAT) - Get Report
,
3M
(MMM) - Get Report
, which both reported strong quarterly results before the opening bell.
Caterpillar shares rose 2.07% to $111.31. This company reported
of $2.23 a share, beating analysts' estimates of $1.73.
Caterpillar guided to 2012 revenue of between $68 billion and $72 billion and profit of about $9.25 a share. Analysts forecast 2012 profit of $9.07 a share.
TheStreet Ratings
gives Caterpillar a
with a buy rating and a price target of $122.14.
Shares of 3M increased 1.27% to $87.58. Fourth-quarter profit of $954 million, or $1.35 a share,
beat analysts' estimates of $1.31 a share
. The company's fourth-quarter sales rose 5.7% to $7.1 billion.
3M receives a
from
TheStreet Ratings
with a buy rating and $99.10 price target.
--
Written by Alexandra Zendrian in New York
.
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