7:00 a.m - (Yahoo) U.S. stocks in London mixed, Oracle bounces
LONDON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks in London were mixed on Wednesday against a fragile background of
potential profit warnings and jitters over Asia's economic crises, dealers said.
Shares in software giant Oracle Corp rebounded slightly from their 29 percent sell-off in New York, after the company
reported disappointing second- quarter results. Its shares were bid at $24 and offered at $24-1/2, from their close of
$22-5/16.
''We were all set in the States for a big Christmas rally and I think it got ahead of itself,'' a London dealer said.
''We had the catalyst of Oracle to bring us back down to earth and the complacency was too high,'' he said. ''People
are adjusting their portfolios and there is some rotation in the market to more defensive stocks like the drugs.''
Technology stocks were also steady to slightly lower after Microsoft Corp (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) said late Tuesday
that it was feeling the impact of a sharp slowdown in computer sales in Japan, once one of the company's fastest-growing
markets.
However, Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Bob Herbold did not give specifics and said there have been no material
changes to the company's earnings outlook since mid-September.
Microsoft shares slipped 1/16 to $144-1/4, IBM (NYSE:IBM - news) eased $1/8 to $110-1/4 and Intel Corp
(Nasdaq:INTC - news) was unchanged at $75-5/8, after easing in early trade, dealers said.
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Based on the above opening price in London, ORCL is readying itself to settle at the $24 - $24 1/2 level. Due to high selling in the U.S, it was unable to make it to that level today but I believe that as the selling sunsides, we could see ORCL back above $24 by the end of the week.
V.K |
