U.S. stocks modestly lower, HP tumbles; Dow sheds 0.22%

Forex Pros – U.S. stock markets were modestly lower after the open on Wednesday, amid surging oil prices and fears over ongoing violence in the Middle East, while investors digested a slew of earnings reports.  

During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.22%, the S&P 500 index shed 0.08%, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 0.09%.

Libya's long ruling leader Muammar Qaddafi said in a televised speech on Tuesday that he had no intention of stepping down or leaving the country, vowing to die a “martyr”.

Meanwhile, anti-government demonstrations continued in Bahrain on Wednesday, with Shi'ite Muslim protesters demanding the fall of the Sunni-run government in the biggest protest since unrest began last week.

Shares in airliners were broadly lower as crude oil prices surged to a 29-month high amid fears over a disruption to supplies from the Middle East.

Delta Airlines saw shares drop 1.68%, while US Airways lost 1.53%.
 
Meanwhile, shares in technology giant Hewlett-Packard plunged 11.1% after it lowered its full-year earnings outlook, citing weak consumer demand for personal computers and a lackluster showing from its services arm.

Garmin, maker of portable navigation devices saw shares slump 1.68% after it reported lower-than-expected fourth quarter earnings. 

Meanwhile, Netflix saw shares fall 2.71% after the stock was downgraded to ‘underperform' at Needham & Co.

However, shares in world's largest satellite television provider DirectTV surged 3.57% after it announced fourth quarter earnings that topped analysts' expectations, on rising demand for high-definition and digital-video recording services.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were broadly lower. The EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.46%, France's CAC 40 was down 0.38%, Germany's DAX tumbled 1.07%, while Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.89%.

Later in the day, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet was to speak at a public engagement in Belgium, while the U.S. was to publish industry data on existing home sales.





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