Us stocks face first weekly loss

Weak results from several United States
companies helped tug the stock market
down slightly on Friday, putting major
indexes on course for their first weekly
loss this month, The Associated Press
reported .

Many traders are also looking ahead to a
packed schedule of events next week,
including a Federal Reserve meeting and
the government's monthly employment
report.

"There's just a deluge of market-moving
events next week," the Chief Market
Strategist, LPL Financial, Jeffrey Kleintop
said "Traders seem to be erring on the side
of caution today."
Expedia plunged 26 per cent, the worst fall
in the Standard& Poor's 500 index.

The
online travel agency reported earnings late
Thursday that badly missed analysts'
expectations. Higher costs were the main
culprit. Expedia lost $17.09 to $47.91.

A half-hour before the closing bell, the
Standard & Poor's 500 index was down
two points, or 0.1 per cent, to 1,688.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped
16 points, less than 0.1 per cent, to 15,539.
The Nasdaq composite index edged up two
points to 3,608.

Before the market opened, Newmont
Mining turned in a quarterly loss, largely a
result of slumping prices for copper and
gold. Analysts had predicted a slight profit.
Newmont's stock fell 30 cents, or 1 per
cent, to $30.33.

Starbucks posted results late Thursday that
beat analysts' estimates. Lower costs for
coffee beans and better sales of salads and
sandwiches helped. Starbucks jumped $
5.09, or seven per cent, to $73.26.

It's halftime in the second-quarter earnings
season, and corporate profits are shaping
up better than some had feared.

Analysts forecast that earnings for
companies in the S&P 500 increased 4.5
per cent over the same period in 2012,
according to S&P Capital IQ. At the start of
July, they predicted earnings would rise 2.8
per
cent. Nearly seven out of every 10
companies have surpassed Wall Street's
profit targets.

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