Drop In Home Sales Dampens Recovery Hopes, Markets Mixed At Midday
July 25, 2012 at 06:03 AM EDT
A sharp drop in new home sales dampened hope for a housing recovery. The markets traded mixed during the midday with the Dow rising 49 points to 12,667 while Nasdaq slipped 6 points to 2856.On the upsideTempur-Pedic (NYSE: TPX) reported lower second quarter earnings and revenue but the results surpassed analyst expectations.Second quarter earnings and revenue dropped for Altera (Nasdaq: ALTR) but the results beat expectations by a wide margin.InvenSense (NYSE: INVN) reported lower first quarter earnings but revenue rose to top estimates.On the downsideRF Micro Devices (Nasdaq: RFMD) fell to a loss for the first quarter as revenue dropped.WellPoint (NYSE: WLP) disappointed with lower second quarter earnings that fell short of expectations and cut its full year guidance.RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) fell to an unexpected loss for the second quarter even as revenue rose and suspended its dividend.In the broad market, advancing issues were on par with decliners on the NYSE and while advancers outpaced decliners by more than 7 to 5 Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks edged up a point to 769.