US stocks fell overnight, ending three days of gains, after the release of a disappointing housing report which caused concern about the economic recovery and cautious earnings outlook’s from two major software makers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 11 points to 10,426. The S&P500 Index is down half a point at 1,110 and the NASDAQ fell 11 points to 2,193.
In economic news: A Government report showed that housing starts fell 10% in October to an annual rate of 529,000. Expectations were for an annual rate of 600,000 starts in October.
And the Government also reported that its key measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index, rose 0.3% in October.
In company news: Shares in maker of web-based business software Salesforce.com, Inc (NYSE:CRM) fell 3.05 per cent to $63.61. The company posted earnings for the third quarter that were in line with expectations, however the company also reported a slowdown in new business contracts.
Shares in design software and services company Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ:ADSK) lost 10.37 per cent to $24.20. The tech company gave a cautious outlook for the current quarter and forecast earnings for the fourth quarter that are below expectations.
Shares in Chinese photovoltaic cell maker Solarfun Power Holdings Co Ltd (NASDAQ:SOLF) rose 11.15 per cent to $6.48. The company posted better than expected earnings for the third quarter boosted by an increase in shipment volumes.
And shares in software maker Concur Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:CNQR) declined 9.35 per cent to $37.24. The company posted a slight rise in profit for the quarter after an increase in expenses offset a jump in sales. According to Reuters the company’s CFO is to retire in fiscal 2010. Looking at the best and worst performers in the NASDAQ Top 100: Patterson Companies was the best performer, adding 2.06% to $26.32. The next best performers were Expedia and Hologic. The worst performer was Autodesk its price as mentioned before. Illumina and Seagate Technology also closed lower.
