Bloomberg (24/10) -- U.S. stocks fluctuated, after the Standard &
Poor’s 500 Index fell for the first time in six days, as investors
assessed corporate earnings and manufacturing data from the world’s two
largest economies.Ford Motor Co. gained 2.3 percent after
earnings beat projections. Citrix Systems Inc. advanced 4.2 percent
after saying it plans to buy back as much as $500 million in shares.
Symantec Corp. sank 13 percent as the maker of security software
forecast sales and profit that fell short of analysts’ estimates.The
S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 1,747.30 at 10:02 a.m. in New York. The
gauge has gained 3.9 percent this month, extending the 2013 advance to
23 percent, as lawmakers agreed to raise the U.S. borrowing limit,
avoiding a possible debt default. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
gained 49.40 points, or 0.3 percent to 15,462.73. Trading in S&P 500
stocks was 27 percent above the 30-day average during this time of day.“We
want to look at the quality of these earnings as far as looking at
revenues and making sure there is actual growth and not just
manufactured growth,” David James, director of research at Alpha,
Ohio-based James Investment Research Inc., said in a phone interview.
His firm oversees more than $4.5 billion.Amazon.com Inc. and
Microsoft Corp. are among 47 companies in the S&P 500 posting
results today, the busiest day of the third-quarter reporting season. Of
the 212 companies that have released earnings so far, 76 percent
exceeded analysts’ predictions for profit, while 53 percent beat sales
estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
