Stocks fell on Disappointing Outlooks. Dow Laggards: KFT, PG, HPQ, INTC, and DIS

Published on Thursday, 29 July 2010 21:54 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, July 29^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stocks fell for the second day, led by consumer staples and technology shares after disappointing outlooks raised concern on earnings multiples.

The market started to the upside early on, as earnings and the euro moved to a two-month high provided an early momentum. European markets moved to the upside, as the euro zone economic confidence was stronger than expected, however the euro retreated some and the major European markets moved to negative territory to close their session.

Today's economic data was limited to news that initial jobless claims for the week ended July 24 came in at 457,000, which is below the expected total of 464,000. Continuing claims hit 4.57 million, which is up from the 4.48 million continuing claims that had been registered for the previous week.

But stocks fell from an opening gain to a loss of more than 1% before they staged a comeback. However, resistance at the neutral line kept the move from extending into positive territory, so stocks settled with modest losses.

There wasn’t any particular catalyst that triggered the slide, but it gained momentum as sellers started to turn against technology stocks. Tech stocks settled with a 0.9% loss as participants reacted negatively to the latest earnings and forecasts from companies like Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), the largest chipmaker in the world, was among the Dow worst components, as shares fell 1.41% to $21.03. Market participants sold Intel after the world leader in visual computing technologies disappointed and raised concern about growth rates in the sector.

Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ), the largest PC maker, also fell with the sector. Shares of Hewlett-Packard dropped 1.53% to $40.41, posting the third biggest percentage decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Shares of consumer staples were among the worst performers, as they posted a 1.1% loss as a group in response to disappointing reports in the sector. Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) and Kellogg (NYSE:K) disappointed investors with their corporate results. Kraft (NYSE:KFT), the maker of Velveeta cheese and Oreo cookies, posted the biggest percentage decline in the blue chip index, as shares slid 2.05% to $29.11.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), the global consumer products company, also fell as investors hit the sector on concern earnings multiples might be too high, as proved by the disappointing reports in the sector. P&G was the second worst Dow component, as shares dropped 1.64% to $61.67.

Treasuries saw mixed interest. Disappointing results from an auction of 7-year Notes did nothing to stimulate demand. The auction drew a bid-to-cover of 2.9 and dollar demand of $80.6 billion, which is the lowest amount in nearly one year. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note settled at 2.97%.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), the largest media company in the world, was the fifth worst Dow component, as shares lost 0.97% to $33.71.