LONDON (ShareCast) - - Stocks lower following consumer confidence numbers
- Morgan Stanley and GE impress

Dow Jones Industrials: -0.15%
Nasdaq Comp.: -0.51%
S&P 500: -0.31%

The major US equity averages were registering small losses ninety minutes after the opening bell rang in downtown Manhattan. That following the release of weaker than expected consumer confidence data and a rather poor news-flow as regards fourth-quarter results from some of Wall Street’s top-tier outfits, such as Intel or State Street.

Markets Stateside were thus seemingly shrugging off the better-than-expected economic data from China that had pushed markets firmly into positive territory in Europe.

China’s economic growth seems to have accelerated for the first time in two years towards the end of 2012 thanks in part to the stimulus measures implemented by the government. Chinese gross domestic product grew 7.9% year-on-year in the last three months of 2012, ahead of the 7.8% expected by the consensus.

GE and Morgan Stanley impress; Intel and Capital One don't

General Electric is on the rise after announcing adjusted earnings of 44 cents a share which narrowly beat the 43 cent analyst estimate.

Banking giant Morgan Stanley was also higher after swinging to a higher-than-expected profit in the fourth quarter.

That release followed on from the mixed results from other banking heavyweights seen earlier in the week. Both Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan smashed expectations on Wednesday, while Bank of America and Citigroup disappointed markets on Thursday.

However, semiconductor manufacturing titan Intel was lower after its fourth-quarter results, which were released after the market-close last night.

The chipmaker reported its second consecutive quarter of falling sales. The company seems to be finding it difficult to achieve a transition towards the mobile sector.

Capital One Financial is plummeting by 7% after disclosing lower than forecast fourth quarter profits.

Analysts at Robert W.Baird downgraded Visa to ‘neutral’ from ‘outperform’.

Piper Jaffray upgraded Caterpillar to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral.’

The University of Michigan's preliminary sentiment index for the month of January has come in at 71.3, versus a reading of 72.9 for the previous month and a consensus estimate of 75. The expectations sub-index dropped to 62.7, after 63.8 in the previous month (Consensus: 65.2).

"It is only a slight fall but consumers' sentiment is being watched for signs that spending may retrench," comment economists at Digital Look.

Small falls in yields and oil futures

S&P 500 - Risers
Life Technologies Corp. (LIFE) $61.28 +11.48%
Morgan Stanley (MS) $22.14 +6.70%
State Street Corp. (STT) $53.75 +6.69%
Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) $21.92 +3.26%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $100.33 +2.69%
Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) $75.30 +2.63%
General Electric Co. (GE) $21.86 +2.63%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $37.39 +2.61%
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) $93.44 +2.11%
BMC Software Inc. (BMC) $43.56 +1.87%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) $56.78 -7.82%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $2.56 -6.75%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $46.53 -6.64%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.25 -6.31%
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $101.86 -5.16%
First Horizon National Corp. (FHN) $9.77 -4.87%
Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) $30.57 -4.35%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $42.11 -3.59%
People's United Financial Inc. (PBCT) $12.31 -3.17%
Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (EL) $62.51 -2.68%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
General Electric Co. (GE) $21.86 +2.63%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $76.46 +0.74%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $96.35 +0.68%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $46.64 +0.60%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $42.33 +0.47%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $92.08 +0.35%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $194.27 +0.32%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $65.22 +0.26%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $86.63 +0.26%
3M Co. (MMM) $98.22 +0.14%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.25 -6.31%
American Express Co. (AXP) $59.28 -2.40%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $11.07 -1.86%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $26.47 -1.34%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $16.94 -0.96%
Boeing Co. (BA) $74.54 -0.96%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $52.02 -0.74%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $37.38 -0.35%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $27.17 -0.31%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $89.92 -0.31%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Life Technologies Corp. (LIFE) $61.28 +11.48%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $37.39 +2.61%
BMC Software Inc. (BMC) $43.56 +1.87%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $12.62 +1.79%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $7.91 +1.28%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $47.41 +1.07%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $88.67 +1.00%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $12.91 +0.94%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $124.61 +0.93%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $79.22 +0.89%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $46.53 -6.64%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.25 -6.31%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $82.07 -2.23%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $44.31 -2.01%
Starz Class A (STRZA) $15.60 -1.83%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $33.96 -1.48%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $46.12 -1.43%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $29.71 -1.43%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $67.64 -1.42%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $62.03 -1.32%

AB

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