(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks finished little changed on Wednesday as investors remained jittery ahead of the start of third quarter earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5.67 points or 0.06% to finish at 9,725.58. The S&P 500 advanced 6.76 points or 0.32% to end at 1,057.58. The Nasdaq Composite gained 6.76 points or 0.32% to 2,110.33.
Shares of Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:
AA), the largest US aluminum maker, rallied 31 cents or 2.23% to $14.20.
Among financials, shares of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE
BAC) jumped 35 cents or 2.06% to $17.35. JP Morgan & Chase (NYSE:
JPM) surged 79 cents or 1.76% to 45.70. American Express Co. (NYSE:
AXP) rose 47 cents or 1.40% to $33.99.
Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:
T) plunged 56 or 2.06% to 26.18. Verizon Communications (NYSE:
VZ) lost 32 cents or 1.04% to $29.38.
Shares of Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE:
TRV) tumbled 60 cents or 1.21% to $48.93.
The third-quarter earnings season will officially kick off with results from Dow component Alcoa (NYSE:
AA) on Wednesday after the opening bell.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:
AMZN) on Wednesday slashed the price of its Kindle electronic-book reader by $40 to $259. The company also announced that it will start selling a $279 version of the Kindle that will work in 100 countries and be sold to readers outside the U.S. Amazon.com shares surged $3.06 or 3.37% to $93.97.
Early on Wednesday, Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE:
FDO) reported that fourth-quarter earnings were $60 million, or 43 cents a share, compared to $53 million, or 38 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $1.81 billion from $1.77 billion a year ago. For fiscal 2010, the company expects net sales will increase 5% to 7% and same-store sales to grow 3% to 5%. Shares fell 27 cents or 0.95% to $28.21.
Monsanto Co.
