Investors keep the market in a tight range after ricin scare, despite more strong earnings.
February 3, 2004: 10:15 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. stocks were mixed Tuesday morning as investors shied away from Wall Street following the discovery of a strong poison in the U.S. Senate. The latest fourth-quarter earnings reports were strong but failed to provoke much of a reaction in the market.
About half an hour into the trading session, the Dow Jones industrial average (down 5.48 to 10493.70, Charts), the Standard & Poor's 500 (up 0.19 to 1135.45, Charts) index and the Nasdaq composite (up 5.51 to 2068.66, Charts) all traded near breakeven.
A suspicious white powder found in the mailroom of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist was determined to be ricin, a highly toxic substance. Most of the Senate complex was shut down, with only essential personnel allowed access to the Capitol.
The incident spooked investors, reviving fears of chemical terrorist attacks, which first surfaced after September 11 when there were several incidents of anthrax being sent through the mail, resulting in deaths. (For more on this, go to CNN.com.)
The news overshadowed better than forecast earnings from Whirlpool (WHR: up $1.01 to $75.91, Research, Estimates) and others.
After the close of trade, Cisco Systems (CSCO: up $0.11 to $26.31, Research, Estimates) is due to report its quarterly results. The company is forecast to have earned 17 cents per share, 2 cents more than a year earlier, according to First Call estimates. The stock traded barely higher.
Shares of automakers Ford (F: down $0.17 to $13.78, Research, Estimates) and General Motors (GM: down $0.39 to $48.31, Research, Estimates) continued the decline that started last week and continued Monday after two high-profile downgrades of Ford's stock. The companies and other automakers are due to report their latest monthly sales figures Tuesday.
Market breadth was narrowly mixed. On the New York Stock Exchange, where 215 million shares traded, advancing issues held a small lead over decliners. On the Nasdaq, losers beat gainers by a small margin on volume of 314 million shares.
Treasury prices rose. The yield on the 10-year note came down to 4.12 percent from 4.14 percent late Monday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
NYMEX light sweet crude oil futures fell 5 cents to $34.93 a barrel. COMEX gold gained $3 to $402.30.
European markets fell in the afternoon there. Asian stocks ended lower Tuesday.
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