Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Friday 26 January 2018
A25

Losses for airlines, tech mostly offset other stock gains

By MARLEY JAY Economic Forum in Davos, rose 2.06 points, or 0.1 per-
AP Markets Writer Switzerland, to get a sense cent, to 1,601.67. Most of
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. of how the Trump adminis- the stocks on the New York
stocks spent a second day tration’s nationalist stance Stock Exchange closed
flipping between small might affect global trade. lower.
gains and losses Thursday Trump is scheduled give a Stocks have been setting
as investors again looked speech there at around 7 record highs regularly for
for hints about the Trump a.m. Eastern time Friday. more than a year, and the
administration’s stance on Julian Emanuel, chief eq- S&P 500 is up 6.2 percent
international trade and the uity and derivatives strate- this month. It’s on track for
dollar. Major indexes end- gist for BTIG, said investors its biggest monthly gain
ed the day mixed as air- have mostly tuned out po- since March 2016, a time
lines plunged while biotech litical news in the last year, when the market was re-
drugmakers climbed. but it might be time for that covering after a sharp
Homebuilders fell sharply Gates Industrial CEO Ivo Jurek, center, is applauded as he rings to change because after plunge.q
after the Commerce De- a ceremonial bell when his company’s IPO begins trading on a stretch of historic calm in
partment said sales of new the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 25, the markets, volatility is ris-
homes dropped in Decem- 2018. At right is NYSE Vice President Chris Taylor. ing slightly.
ber. Airlines suffered a sec- (AP Photo/Richard Drew) “Economies and earnings
ond day of sharp losses as The dollar made small re- the administration wouldn’t are the drivers of the mar-
investors worried about ris- covery in the afternoon af- do much to prop up the ket long term, but politics
ing costs and the possibility ter President Donald Trump dollar. Mnuchin said Thurs- needs to be respected,”
of lower air fares. Retailers said he wants to see a stron- day that he supports a he said.
and technology compa- ger U.S. currency. The dol- stronger dollar over a lon- The S&P 500 inched up 1.71
nies slipped, but health lar has fallen to three-year ger term. points, or 0.1 percent, to
care companies including lows, and it fell further on The Standard & Poor’s 500 2,839.25. The Dow average
Biogen and Celgene rose. Wednesday after Treasury index and Dow Jones in- climbed 140.67 points, or
High-dividend stocks such Secretary Steven Mnuchin dustrial average still rose 0.5 percent, to 26,392.79.
as utilities rallied as bond said there were advantag- enough to set more re- The Nasdaq composite
yields fell, making those es to the dollar’s weakness cords, but stocks have fell 3.89 points to 7,411.16.
stocks more attractive to over the last year. wobbled this week as inves- The Russell 2000 index of
investors seeking income. Investors took that to mean tors monitored the World smaller-company stocks

Caterpillar posts 4Q loss, but adjusted EPS up

DEERFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Cat- and other items, Caterpil- years, many key markets or $1.26 per share, on rev-
erpillar Inc. on Thursday re- lar earned $2.16 per share, improved in 2017, and our enue of $45.46 billion. Ad-
ported a loss of $1.3 billion topping the average es- global team delivered justed earnings per share
in its fourth quarter, driven timate of $1.77 per share, strong results,” CEO Jim for 2017 totaled $6.88.
down by a hefty charge re- according to Zacks Invest- Umpleby said in a state- Looking ahead, Caterpil-
lated to tax reform. ment Research. ment. “We remained fo- lar expects 2018 adjusted
On a per-share basis, the The construction equip- cused on operational ex- earnings in the range of
Deerfield, Illinois-based ment company posted rev- cellence and made early $8.25 to $9.25 per share.
company said it had a loss enue growth of 35 percent investments in profitable That tops the average
of $2.18. Results in the latest to $12.9 billion, also beating growth initiatives as we be- FactSet estimate of $8.15
quarter include a tax-relat- Street forecasts. Six analysts gan to implement our new per share.
ed charge of $2.4 billion, surveyed by Zacks expect- strategy.” Caterpillar shares added
or $3.91 per share. Exclud- ed $12.01 billion. For the full year, the com- 4 cents to$168.38 in after-
ing that, restructuring costs “After four challenging pany earned $754 million, noon trading.q