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General-merchandise, department stores rank first, second in index. Dow down 23 points
By Kate Gibson
MarketWatch
Published on Thursday, Jun 25, 2009
NEW YORK: Earnings forecasts for companies have improved this month, although they've remained generally poor, with retailers — specifically general-merchandise and department stores — among the brighter spots after a quarter of cost-slashing.
The S&P 500 Index's Net Earnings Revisions Index, or NERI, was negative again in June but showed improvement for all 10 of the broad market index's industry sectors, four of which are now positive.
''Retailers were ahead of the pack in the NERI derby,'' wrote Ed Yardeni, chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research Inc.
As the Dow Jones industrial average on Wednesday fell 23.05 points, or 0.3 percent, to 8,299.8, investors appear to be focusing on the upcoming earnings results season. They're looking for signs that the corporate outlook is improving, backing up sharp rises in share prices since early March.
In June, general-merchandise stores and department stores ranked first and second in the NERI, with readings of 56.7 percent and 50 percent, respectively, with seven retailing groups among the 15 top performers on the index in June.
Drugstore chain Rite Aid Corp. on Wednesday reported its eighth consecutive quarterly loss and said it anticipates a bigger deficit for the year
because of refinancing expenses.
On Wednesday, retail stocks as well as the broad market were bolstered by a stronger-than-expected rise in orders for U.S. durable goods.
The S&P Retail Index rose 0.7 percent to 311.34, paring some of its early gains when new-home sales dropped 0.6 percent to 342,000 in May and as investors turned their focus toward the conclusion of a two-day Fed monetary-policy meeting.
On Wall Street, materials, information technology and financials paced gains and energy and consumer staples weighed, as U.S. stocks pared their advance after the Fed said the recession is abating and that it would not change its program of buying government debt.
In corporate news, athletic footwear and apparel company Nike Inc. said profit dropped in its fiscal fourth quarter on costs to cut jobs, but adjusted results beat Wall Street expectations.
Nike said its net income fell 30 percent to $341.4 million, or 70 cents per share for the quarter that ended May 31. That's down from $490.5 million, or 98 cents per share, that Nike earned in the same quarter of last year. Revenue fell 7 percent to $4.7 billion for the quarter.
NEW YORK: Earnings forecasts for companies have improved this month, although they've remained generally poor, with retailers — specifically general-merchandise and department stores — among the brighter spots after a quarter of cost-slashing.
Get the full article here.
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