U.S. stock-market fall hardened by Google Google

U.S. stock-market fall hardened by Google
Google shares hit after unplanned early release of earnings miss
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock indexes on Thursday fell for the first day this week as Google Inc.’s profit miss highlighted trouble in the tech sector and a rise in jobless claims offset upbeat manufacturing data.

“As we saw in Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) report, there are lots of high expectations in some of these widely held names, and when they don’t deliver, they can get hit pretty hard,” said Patrick O’Hare, chief market analyst at Briefing.com.

The technology sector in particular is growth sensitive, with companies including Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) and Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) issuing warnings reflecting weakening demand.

“The spending environment has not been great within that sector, and there are concerns about end demand and how things are going to unfold,” said O’Hare.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI JIA) lost 8.06 points, or less than 0.1%, to end at 13,548.94, with International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) among its 11 decliners after the provider of technology services missed Wall Street’s sales forecasts with a 5% decline in the third quarter.

Insurer Travelers Cos. (NYSE:TRV) was the top gainer in the Dow after its earnings more than doubled.

The S&P 500 index (SNC:SPX) retreated 3.57 points, or 0.2%, to 1,457.34, with technology hardest hit and telecommunications the best performer among its 10 major industry groups.

The Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ:COMP) shed 31.25 points, or 1%, to 3,072.87.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-fa...2012-10-18