Techs dipped and the broader market struggled near midday Monday as investors mulled a report showing a jump in Chinese exports, considered a weaker dollar and geared up for the start of the quarterly reporting period.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) was barely changed nearly 2-1/2 hours into the session. The S&P 500 index (SPX) lost a few points. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 11 points, or 0.5%.
Stocks gained Friday as a tech rally helped investors look past a surprisingly weak jobs report, leaving all three major gauges at 15-month highs. After that run, stocks seesawed Monday morning.
Results: The fourth-quarter earnings reporting period gets underway Monday, when Dow component Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500) reports results after the close of trade. The aluminum maker is expected to have earned six cents a share, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by earnings tracker Thomson Reuters. Alcoa lost 28 cents per share a year ago.
Bracing for results
Dow components Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) report results later this week. S&P 500 earnings are expected to have jumped 213% in the fourth quarter of 2009, thanks to easy comparisons to the fourth-quarter of 2008, the worst quarter in Thomson’s history. A substantial improvement in financial sector results is expected to fuel the gains.
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