US midday: Dow continues to decline

LONDON (ShareCast) - The Dow Jones is continuing its decline on the back of weak consumer confidence data. There are currently no risers in the index. The main fallers are dominated by financials, including Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and American Express.

The University of Michigan consumer confidence index slumped from 73.5 to 70.6.

The market is shrugging off a big improvement in manufacturing activity in the Chicago region with the Chicago PMI rising from 46.1 to 54.2 in October.

The Dow Jones has fallen 226 points to 9,736, the tech-loaded Nasdaq Composite is off 47 at 2,050, while the broader S&P 500 is down 25 at 1,041.

In other news Friday, US personal spending fell by 0.5% in September, according to the Commerce Department. It was the first drop in five months and the biggest decline in 2009, but had been predicted.

Personal income came in flat, again as expected, although savings rose to an annual rate of $355.6bn. That takes the saving rate to 3.3% from 2.8% in August.

Oil giant Chevron is lower after profits sank by more than half in the third quarter after being hit by sharply lower oil prices.

It reported net income of $3.83bn, down 51% from $7.89bn in the third quarter of 2008. Revenues totalled $45bn, compared with $76bn in the same period the previous year. Exxon Mobil was lower in sympathy.

The best performer of the day is consumer audio products supplier Harman International Industries which reported a much lower loss than expected.

Cosmetics supplier Estee Lauder released first quarter figures that beat expectations.

Aluminium supplier Alcoa has seen Thursday's improvement on the back of a potential Chinese deal reversed.

Kellog is continuing yesterday's improvement following strong third quarter results.

S&P 500 - Risers Harman International Inds (HAR) $38.45 +16.52% Estee Lauder Cos Inc. (EL) $44.02 +7.00% Eastman Kodak Co (EK) $3.65 +5.19% Allergan Inc. (AGN) $56.22 +2.37% Pepco Holdings Inc. (POM) $14.86 +2.27% Teco Energy Inc. (TE) $14.29 +1.56% Dean Foods Co (DF) $18.40 +1.55% Kellogg Co (K) $51.96 +1.12% Clorox Co (CLX) $59.46 +1.07% Constellation Engy (CEG) $31.46 +1.06%

S&P 500 - Fallers CIT Group Inc. (CIT) $0.77 -19.12% Manitowoc Co. (MTW) $9.24 -11.55% GANNETT CO INC (GCI) $9.97 -9.24% M B I A Inc. (MBI) $4.10 -7.91% Tenet Hlthcre Corp. (THC) $5.08 -7.47% Adv Micro Devices (AMD) $4.59 -6.90% Developers Diversified Reality (DDR) $8.47 -6.82% Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $24.28 -6.76% ITT Corp. (ITT) $50.69 -6.75% Teradyne Inc. (TER) $8.49 -6.70%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers Alcoa Inc. (AA) $12.25 -5.77% Bank Of America Corp. (BAC) $15.06 -4.26% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $42.55 -4.06% General Electric Co. (GE) $14.28 -3.97% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $55.01 -3.91% American Express Inc. (AXP) $35.06 -3.79% Du Pont E I De Nemours and Co. (DD) $31.76 -3.67% Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $71.66 -3.11% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $25.15 -2.95% Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $22.85 -2.85%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $34.53 +2.01% Directv Group Inc. (DTV) $26.35 +0.79% Stericycle Inc. (SRCL) $53.22 +0.49% Cephalon Inc. (CEPH) $54.74 +0.40% Warner Chilcott Plc (WCRX) $22.30 +0.36% Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $42.95 +0.02%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $22.78 -6.26% Joy Global Inc. (JOYG) $50.27 -5.91% Steel Dynamics Inc. (STLD) $13.19 -5.45% Foster Wheeler AG (FWLT) $28.10 -5.27% Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $53.43 -5.08% Kla-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $32.62 -4.84% Millicom International Cellular S.A. (MICC) $62.33 -4.78% Maxim Integrated Prod Comm Stk (MXIM) $17.04 -4.59% Flextronics International Ltd. (FLEX) $6.46 -4.34% Seagate Technology (STX) $13.95 -4.32%