US stocks closed a choppy session mostly flat, the Dow managing a small gain on Wednesday as investors got ready for the start of the corporate reporting period with high hopes that results will come in above estimates.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 15 points to 8,178. The S&P500 Index lost 1 point to 880 and the NASDAQ gained 1 point to 1,747.
In economic news: The International Monetary Fund forecast that global GDP will fall 1.4 per cent in 2009 compared to earlier forecasts of a 1.3 per cent decline, however the IMF forecast growth in 2010 of 2.5 per cent from guidance of 1.9 per cent previously.
In company news: Shares in technology company Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) rose 1.48 per cent to $402.49. The company is to launch an operating system called Chrome in the second half of 2010 a direct challenge to rival Microsoft’s Windows product.
Power generation company NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) shares gained 5.75 per cent to $23.35. The company has rejected a sweetened takeover offer from Exelon saying it believes the $6.9 billion offer to be too low.
Shares in communications holding company AT & T Inc (MYSE:T) lost 1.59 per cent to $23.54. The company says that it now anticipates completing its acquisition of Centennial Communications in the third quarter of 2009.
And shares in retail farm and ranch store operator Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) added 10.78 per cent to $44.70. The company says it expects to report earnings above market expectations, and upgraded its outlook for the full year.
Checking the NASDAQ Top 100: The best performer was Amgen rising 13.92 per cent to $59.50. O’Reilly Auto and Urban Outfitters also closed higher.
On the downside, Foster Wheeler was the worst performer falling by 6.13 per cent to $18.82. Steel Dynamics and Autodesk also closed weaker.
