Wall Street Markets Are Cautious in Early Trading

By REUTERS June 27, 2014

Wall Street markets opened mixed on Friday, with major indexes largely on track to close out a week of modest losses as investors grew cautious over the state of economic growth.

In early trading the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.12 percent and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was down 0.09 percent. The Nasdaq composite index edged up 0.05 percent.

While the S.&P. 500 remained 0.3 percent away from a record closing high, further gains may be throttled by some negative data and comments from the St. Louis Fed president, James Bullard, who said interest-rate increases should come sooner rather than later.

Continuing violence in Iraq continues to be a concern for investors, as prolonged tension in the region could cause a prolonged spike in crude oil prices and weigh on consumer spending.

Nike reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat expectations on strong sales in North America and Europe, while DuPont cut its full-year operating profit outlook, citing weakness in its agriculture and performance chemicals divisions.

News on both companies, which are Dow components, came after the market closed on Thursday. Shares of Nike rose 1.6 percent, while DuPont stock dropped 2.4 percent.

For the week, the Dow is down 0.6 percent and the S.&P. is down 0.3 percent. The Nasdaq, which is up 0.3 percent, is on track for its sixth weekly rise out of the last seven. The CBOE Volatility index is up 7.2 percent this week.

Volume may be heavy later on Friday, when Russell Investments announces the final reconstitution of its indexes, which will affect more than $5 trillion in assets.

Relational Investors late Thursday disclosed an 8.52 percent stake in Manitowoc and said it was embarking on a plan to separate it into two companies. Shares of Manitowoc were up more than 10 percent in early trading.

Concern about Iraq and Ukraine and subdued economic data left European shares facing their first week of losses since early April on Friday. Gold rose to near a two-month high.

Other safe-haven assets — the yen, Swiss franc and German and United States government bonds — were also in demand as investors backed away from the riskier bets they have been making for much of this year.

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