LONDON (ShareCast) - - Bernanke says QE not on pre-set course
- Housing starts disappoint in June
- Bank of America follows suit to beat forecasts

Dow Jones: 0.12%
Nasdaq: 0.32%
S&P 500: 0.28%

Stocks edged higher on Wednesday with the focus firmly on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as he gave his semi-annual testimony to Congress.

Gains were limited though on the back of some weak data from the housing market: US housing starts unexpectedly fell to an annualised rate of 836,000 in June from 928,000 the month before (consensus: 960,000); and building permits came in at 911,000 (consensus: 1,000,000).
 
In a prepared speech on Capitol Hill, Bernanke said that the Fed's $85bn-a-month asset purchase programme is "by no means on a pre-set course". He reiterated that the central bank still expects to begin tapering quantitative easing later this year (with a view to end the programme in mid-2014) but said nothing was predetermined and the plan may change if the economic outlook turned for the worse.

He also highlighted some of the downside risks which could affect the economic outlook, such as the recent increases in mortgage rates and the possibility of a weaker-than-expected global economy.

“For markets, that’s good news as the US economic recovery, though in train, remains fragile and housing starts data [released Wednesday] reasserted that to investors,” said Market Strategist Ishaq Siddiqi from ETX Capital.

Siddiqi said that given the recent “choppy” economic data from the States, markets “are taking this as a sign that progress is set to be made for the US economy to be out of the woods”.

Bank of America joined a host of other banks (Goldman, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup) to beat Wall Street estimates with its quarterly results, as second-quarter earnings surged 63% from 19 cents to 32 cents. Analysts were expecting a figure closer to 25 cents. Revenue meanwhile rose 3.5% to $22.73bn.

Bank of New York Mellon was also in demand after forecast-topping results which saw profits jumped 79%.

Chemicals group DuPont was a high riser among blue-chip Dow constituents after investment firm Trian Fund Management reported bought a large interest in the company.

Concerns about caps on credit-card transaction fees were weighing on the share price of American Express.


S&P 500 - Risers
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $29.66 +10.34%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $57.25 +5.28%
St Jude Medical Inc. (STJ) $51.00 +5.24%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (NWSA) $15.89 +3.99%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $62.72 +3.45%
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) $17.05 +3.27%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $267.92 +2.86%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $14.31 +2.80%
Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) $15.24 +2.49%
Borg Warner Inc. (BWA) $89.36 +2.47%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $43.16 -6.84%
Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) $33.60 -3.57%
Sprint Nextel Corporation (S) $6.25 -3.55%
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) $16.56 -3.33%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $43.90 -2.85%
PG&E Corp. (PCG) $45.14 -2.65%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $46.03 -2.40%
Northern Trust Corp. (NTRS) $59.41 -2.21%
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) $28.54 -2.06%
Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (MJN) $72.22 -1.91%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $57.25 +5.28%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $14.31 +2.80%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $40.84 +1.52%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $8.19 +0.99%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $50.74 +0.91%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $83.99 +0.91%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $100.86 +0.87%
Boeing Co. (BA) $104.79 +0.54%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $65.36 +0.51%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $55.27 +0.47%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
American Express Co. (AXP) $76.80 -1.88%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $86.67 -1.70%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $35.74 -1.46%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $80.09 -1.09%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $66.23 -1.02%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $100.10 -0.77%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $26.31 -0.53%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.15 -0.41%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $90.13 -0.30%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $77.20 -0.22%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $29.66 +10.34%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (NWSA) $15.89 +3.99%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $62.72 +3.45%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $108.53 +2.69%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $269.52 +2.59%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $30.50 +2.13%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $81.41 +2.07%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $66.17 +1.91%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $13.59 +1.57%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $108.69 +1.54%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $43.16 -6.84%
Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) $33.60 -3.57%
Randgold Resources Ltd. Ads (GOLD) $67.37 -2.38%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $68.20 -1.90%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $65.41 -1.61%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $415.54 -1.56%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $35.74 -1.46%
Sirius XM Radio Inc (SIRI) $3.63 -1.09%
Dell Inc. (DELL) $12.88 -1.08%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $28.75 -1.07%

BC

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