Dow Lower Ahead of Jobless and Housing Data: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) and More

At 7 a.m. EST, the DAX was down 1.8%, the CAC 40 was down 1.8%, the FTSE MIB was down 2.7%, and the IBEX 35 was down 1.6%. In London, the FTSE 100 was down 1.7%, with only four companies managing to rise against the tide. Defense giant BAE Systems was the leader, up by more than 5% following a 4% dividend increase and a better-than-expected set of annual results. BAE is heavily exposed to the risk of sequestration in the U.S. market, but it said it still anticipates “modest” earnings growth in 2013.

The article Dow Lower Ahead of Jobless and Housing Data originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Roland Head.

Roland Head owns shares in BAE Systems but does not own shares in any of the other companies mentioned in this article. The Fool owns shares of and has bought calls on American International Group. The Fool owns shares of and has written puts on Chesapeake Energy. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of American International Group and Intuit.

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