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(CEP News) - Stocks are mixed early in the session on Thursday as earnings and financial worries vie for the upper hand. Treasuries are lower ahead of the monthly refunding announcement and foreign exchange is relatively quiet.
The Dow Jones industrial average is down 14 points to 7873, the S&P 500 was flat at 844 and the Nasdaq was flat at 1646. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index is up 65 points to 9345. Tech earnings and unexpectedly strong European data put an upbeat tone into early trading. Apple earned $1.33 per share in its second quarter versus an expected $1.08 cents per share. Similarly, eBay earned 39 cents compared to the 34 cents expected. The Euro zone April manufacturing PMI hit a six-month high of 36.7 versus 34.7 expected. The Stoxx 50 is down 4 points to 1943, the UK FTSE 100 is up 15 points to 4045 and the German DAX is down 30 points to 4565. Financial worries and the pending stress test results are keeping a lid on earnings enthusiasm. In testimony given back in February that was not made public, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis said Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Former Treasury Secretary Paulson urged him not to talk about problems with buying Merrill Lynch last year, according to the Wall Street Journal. In Canada, retail sales excluding autos rose 0.6% compared to the previous month, Statistics Canada said. Economists had been expecting a 0.2% rise. The Canadian dollar is up 0.0017 to 0.8083 against the U.S. dollar (1.2376 USD/CAD) and up 0.34 to 79.39 against the yen. The U.S. dollar is up 0.20 to 98.23 against the yen and the Dollar Index is down 0.146 to 86.178. The euro is up 0.0002 to 1.3007 against the U.S. dollar, down 0.0028 to 1.6097 against the Canadian dollar, down 0.0024 to 0.8950 against the pound sterling and is higher by 0.30 to 127.77 against the yen. The pound sterling is up 0.0040 to 1.4533 against the U.S. dollar and up 0.0012 to 1.7980 against the Canadian dollar. U.S. two-year yields are flat at 0.96%, with five-year yields up 2.4 bps to 1.92%, 10-year yields up 2.1 bps to 2.96% and 30-year yields up 1.8 bps to 3.82%. The Eurodollar September 09 contract is up 2.5 ticks to 98.87. The yield curve is steeper, with the 10/2-year spread up 1.7 bps to 199.73 bps. Yields on two-year Canadian government notes are down 1.9 bps to 0.99%, with five-year yields down 3.5 bps to 1.86%, 10-year yields down 1.1 bps to 2.93% and 30-year yields down 1.0 bps to 3.72%. The September 09 BAX contract is flat at 99.58. In Germany, returns on two-year German notes are down 2.1 bps to 1.44%, with five-year yields down 0.8 bps to 2.42%, 10-year yields flat at 3.21% and 30-year yields down 3.4 bps to 3.97%. Yields on UK two-year notes are down 14.7 bps to 1.29%, with five-year yields down 2.6 bps to 2.51%, 10-year yields up 6.8 bps to 3.51% and 30-year yields up 0.7 bps to 4.41%. WTI crude oil is up $0.38 to $49.23. The front month gold contract at the Chicago Board of Trade is up $0.60 to $893.40 per ounce. All data taken at 9:44 a.m. EDT. By Adam Button,
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, edited by Stephen Huebl,
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