LONDON (ShareCast) - US shares are trading in a mixed fashion and close to unchanged despite the release of much stronger than forecast data on construction starts, which showed a rise to a four-year high. That ahead of tomorrow's Chinese gross domestic product growth data and a much awaited summit of Eurozone leaders.

Housing starts rose 15% in September to an annualised rate of 872,000 units, comfortably ahead of market expectations of 770,000.

Technology disappoints

On the tech side of things, chip maker Intel and mainframe computing titan International Business Machines (IBM) have come under pressure after they issued underwhelming results.

IBM's third quarter net income was unchanged year-on-year at $3.8bn. Revenue fell 5% to $24.7n.

Gross profit margin rose to 47.4% from 46.5% in the corresponding quarter of 2011.

“In the third quarter, we continued to drive margin, profit and earnings growth through our focus on higher-value businesses, strategic growth initiatives and productivity,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Looking ahead, we see good opportunity with a strong product lineup heading into this quarter and annuity businesses that provide a solid base of revenue, profit and cash. We are reiterating our full-year 2012 operating earnings per share expectation of at least $15.10," Rometty added.

Intel downside

Intel, meanwhile, has been hit by the slump in demand for desktop PCs, where the company's chips are dominant, as users switch to mobile devices, where Intel technology is not so prevalent.

The company said gross margin in the fourth quarter will be about 57%, well short of the 61% or so the market had been forecasting.

Third quarter net income was down to $2.97bn from $3.47bn a year earlier. Sales declined to $13.5bn but were ahead of the $13.2bn the market had been expecting.

Shares of network security firm Checkpoint software are plummeting after it warned that it expects to earn between 83 cents to 91 cents a share (Consensus: 90 cents), excluding one-time items, on revenue in a range of $355m to $387m.

Exxon Mobil will pay $2.91bn for Canadian outfit Celtic Petroleum.

Dean Foods is rocketing 10% higher after unveiling plans for an initial public offering of its Whitewave unit.

Much stronger than forecast housing data

Housing starts rose 15% in September to an annualised rate of 872,000 units, comfortably ahead of market expectations of 770,000.

Some economists are warning that this series is still far below its historical average –of 1.5m starts. Barclays Research for their part, however, are of the following opinion: “This report provides further evidence for our view that a broader housing recovery remains firmly in place (…) We continue to expect residential investment to be a tailwind for GDP growth in the coming quarters, as it has in the previous five.”

Construction permits –a leading indicator for the above- increased by 11.6% month-on-month to a rate of 894,000 (Consensus: 810,000).

Large rise in Treasury yields

Front month West Texas crude futures are now falling by 0.17% to the 91.93 dollar mark on the NYMEX.

10 year US Treasuries down by 21/32 dollars, with yields at the 1.79% mark.

S&P 500 - Risers
Dean Foods Co. (DF) $17.02 +13.20%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $17.71 +6.94%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $25.68 +6.60%
Bank Of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) $24.82 +5.35%
M&T Bank Corp. (MTB) $102.48 +5.23%
D. R. Horton Inc. (DHI) $21.76 +5.22%
Hudson City Bancorp Inc. (HCBK) $8.51 +5.19%
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $88.15 +3.89%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $22.90 +3.48%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $38.60 +3.43%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) $22.30 -18.88%
Textron Inc. (TXT) $24.50 -7.41%
St Jude Medical Inc. (STJ) $40.36 -6.01%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $200.44 -5.00%
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) $60.27 -4.90%
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (SWK) $68.82 -4.84%
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) $68.99 -4.35%
DeVry Inc. (DV) $22.29 -3.96%
Red Hat Inc. (RHT) $52.72 -3.55%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $66.33 -3.37%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $9.15 +2.33%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $86.53 +1.85%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $52.16 +1.80%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $61.92 +1.74%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $43.51 +1.59%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $44.66 +1.31%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $78.58 +1.26%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $70.39 +1.20%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $93.46 +1.16%
American Express Co. (AXP) $59.22 +1.01%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $200.44 -5.00%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.63 -3.23%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $93.26 -0.88%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $18.75 -0.57%
Boeing Co. (BA) $73.35 -0.18%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) $24.38 +9.52%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $67.73 +2.54%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $114.54 +2.51%
Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM) $8.02 +2.43%
Flextronics International Ltd. (FLEX) $6.26 +2.29%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $11.52 +1.95%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $69.62 +1.81%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $89.60 +1.78%
News Corp. Class A (NWSA) $25.20 +1.76%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $248.22 +1.75%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) $22.30 -18.88%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $41.76 -11.94%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $66.33 -3.37%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.63 -3.23%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $17.96 -1.97%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $80.04 -1.94%
F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $99.23 -1.94%
BMC Software Inc. (BMC) $41.41 -1.45%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $32.28 -1.22%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $57.80 -1.06%

AB

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