Comtex SmarTrend(R) Market Close Wrap-up -- October 20, 2009

Last updated October 20, 2009: 4:45 PM ET --- The major U.S. equity indices closed lower on Tuesday after a disappointing report on housing starts made investors nervous despite strong earnings reports. The Commerce Department said that home building rose less than expected in September, which is a discouraging signal for future construction activity. In corporate news, the housing data overshadowed strong earnings reports from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT). Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported much stronger profits, citing big gains in sales of iPhones and Mac computers. Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) reported Q3 EPS of 64 cents, topping consensus estimates of 6 cents. Revenues in the quarter plunged 44% year-over-year to $7.30 billion, and came in short of consensus estimates of $7.49 billion. Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) reported Q3 EPS of 15 cents, ex-items, topping consensus estimates of 7 cents. Revenues in the quarter fell 12% year-over-year to $1.58 billion, but came in ahead of consensus estimates of $1.12 billion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.50% lower at 10,041.48, the S&P 500 fell 0.62% to 1,091.06, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.59% to 2,163.47.

Write to Chip Brian at cbrian@tradethetrend.com

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Related terms: construction, corporate, earnings, eps, housing starts, industrial, market, nasdaq, nyse, sales, securities