U.S. stocks open slightly lower after housing, PPI data
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E-mail Xinhua, February 20, 2013
U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Wednesday after the release of an unexpected drop of new housing starts and a higher Producer Price Index (PPI).
On the economic front, the U.S. PPI rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent in January, the first increase after three consecutive declines, boosted by a 0.7 percent jump of food costs, the Labor Department said.
Meanwhile, the core PPI, which excludes volatile items of food and energy, rose 0.2 percent from a 0.1 percent increase in the prior month, the department said.
U.S. housing starts in January fell 8.5 percent to 890,000, lower than analysts expectations, as winter volatility and possible lingering effects from Hurrican Sandy weighed down the figure, the Commerce Department reported.
But building permits, a sign of future demand, rose 1.8 percent to 925,000 in January, the highest rate since June 2008, from the revised-up figure of 909,000 in December, the Commerce Department added.
Investors are also watching closely to the release of the Federal Reserve's minutes of its January meeting. The Fed is expected to talk about whether it would slow its pace of the on-going quantitative easing in the minutes.
Shares of Google rose 0.22 percent to 808.65 dollars, extending gains after setting its historical high above 800 dollars a share in the previous trading day.
Dell net profit slumped 31 percent in the fourth quarter to 530 million U.S. dollars but still beat analysts' estimates. Shares of Dell dropped 0.07 percent to 13.80 dollars a share.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 4.15, or 0.03 percent, to 14,031.52. The S&P 500 Index slipped 2.44, or 0.16 percent, to 1,528.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 3.48, or 0.11 percent, to 3,210.11. Endi
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