Market Watch 10/13/2009

Today is Tuesday, It’s been raining hard in my area.

 

Investors grew cautious Tuesday after quarterly sales at Johnson & Johnson fell short of expectations and an influential analyst stirred worries that bank shares are overheated.

 

Stocks could get a bounce Wednesday from Intel Corp., which posted earnings and sales after the closing bell that topped expectations. The leading chipmaker also said business is improving. The stock rose 4 percent in after-hours trading. Still looming ahead is the first earnings report from a major bank early Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase & Corp.

The Dow fell 14.74, or 0.2 percent, to 9,871.06.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.00, or 0.3 percent, to 1,073.19, its first loss after six days of gains. The Nasdaq rose 0.75, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,139.89.

Bond prices rose, pushing yields down, after steep losses from last week. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.35 percent from 3.38 percent late Friday. Bond markets were closed Monday.