NEW YORK – Stocks slipped Wednesday, threatening to break a seven-day streak of gains for the Dow Jones industrial average.Major indexes fell after the head of the U.S. central bank said that he expects unemployment to remain high for several years. Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, told members of the House of Representatives that the economy is strengthening but that companies haven't yet stepped up hiring. Last week, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate dropped to 9 percent in January.Bond prices rose following Bernanke's testimony, reversing a slump that had pushed yields up to their highest levels since April. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite to its price, fell to 3.67 from 3.74 late Tuesday.The Dow Jones industrial average lost 25 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,207 in afternoon trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 6 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,318. The Nasdaq composite lost 10, or 0.4 percent, to 2,786.Two members of the Dow index rose following better than expected results. Coca-Cola Co. said its income more than tripled last quarter, helped by the acquisition of a bottler and selling more drinks in North America. The stock rose 0.6 percent.Walt Disney Co. gained 5.5 percent after reporting strong earnings late Tuesday. The company beat expectations thanks to higher revenues at its ABC and ESPN networks.Disney helped push consumer discretionary stocks in the S&P index up 0.7 percent, the largest gain of any of the 10 company groups that make up the index.American International Group Inc. fell 2.7 percent after saying it expects to take a charge of $4.1 billion to build up reserves against losses for its Chartis property and casualty insurance units.The S&P 500 has closed higher for six of the last seven trading days. The Dow Jones industrial average has risen seven days straight, the first time that has happened since July. The Dow has had only one down day in the last 10, on Jan. 28 when the protests in Egypt escalated.NYSE Euronext Inc., the parent company of the exchange, issued a statement confirming that it was in advanced talks with Germany's stock exchange, Deutsche Boerse, about a possible combination. The plan being discussed would create a company 60 percent owned by Deutsche Boerse shareholders with dual headquarters in Frankfurt and New York. NYSE Euronext's stock jumped 15 percent to $38.30.American Jazz Band .Mon Hold Up .Club FG (19 february 2005) .Bitwa .Sould out
Stocks fall; Dow's 7-day winning streak at risk
NEW YORK – Stocks slipped Wednesday, threatening to break a seven-day streak of gains for the Dow Jones industrial average.Major indexes fell after the head of the U.S. central bank said that he expects unemployment to remain high for several years. Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, told members of the House of Representatives that the economy is strengthening but that companies haven't yet stepped up hiring. Last week, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate dropped to 9 percent in January.Bond prices rose following Bernanke's testimony, reversing a slump that had pushed yields up to their highest levels since April. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite to its price, fell to 3.67 from 3.74 late Tuesday.The Dow Jones industrial average lost 25 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,207 in afternoon trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 6 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,318. The Nasdaq composite lost 10, or 0.4 percent, to 2,786.Two members of the Dow index rose following better than expected results. Coca-Cola Co. said its income more than tripled last quarter, helped by the acquisition of a bottler and selling more drinks in North America. The stock rose 0.6 percent.Walt Disney Co. gained 5.5 percent after reporting strong earnings late Tuesday. The company beat expectations thanks to higher revenues at its ABC and ESPN networks.Disney helped push consumer discretionary stocks in the S&P index up 0.7 percent, the largest gain of any of the 10 company groups that make up the index.American International Group Inc. fell 2.7 percent after saying it expects to take a charge of $4.1 billion to build up reserves against losses for its Chartis property and casualty insurance units.The S&P 500 has closed higher for six of the last seven trading days. The Dow Jones industrial average has risen seven days straight, the first time that has happened since July. The Dow has had only one down day in the last 10, on Jan. 28 when the protests in Egypt escalated.NYSE Euronext Inc., the parent company of the exchange, issued a statement confirming that it was in advanced talks with Germany's stock exchange, Deutsche Boerse, about a possible combination. The plan being discussed would create a company 60 percent owned by Deutsche Boerse shareholders with dual headquarters in Frankfurt and New York. NYSE Euronext's stock jumped 15 percent to $38.30.American Jazz Band .Mon Hold Up .Club FG (19 february 2005) .Bitwa .Sould out