As we move deeper into earnings season and investors seem to be focusing more on results and less on what the Federal Reserve may or may not do in the coming months, the major indexes all managed to pull out a win today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average 2 Minute (INDEXDJX:.DJI) closed the day higher by 18 points, or 0.12%, despite fluctuating between positive and negative territory for most of the day. The index now sits at 15,470. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq performed slightly better, gaining 0.28% and 0.32%, respectively, with each staying above water during the whole trading session.
That all happened after the government released housing data this morning indicating that housing starts declined in June, slowing to a seasonally adjusted rate of 836,000, from 928,000 in May. This figure has such a huge impact on the U.S. economy because economists project that for every new home that’s built, 1.5 new jobs are created. That’s a big deal, with the jobless rate still above 7.5%.
Onward to earnings reports
Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ), and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) all closed lower today as investors awaited Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s second-quarter earnings report and a brief insight into what’s happening within the PC industry. As the closing bell rang, shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) had lost 1.46%, Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) was down 0.53%, and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) slid lower by 0.41%.
When Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s report came out, we learned that earnings per share registered at $0.39, in line with analysts’ estimates, while revenue was slightly lower than the $12.9 billion Wall Street wanted to see, at $12.8 billion. The bad news is that EPS declined from $0.54 last year, while revenue dropped by 5%. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is now forecasting revenue of $13.5 billion for the third quarter while most analysts are looking for sales of $13.7 billion during the current quarter. Shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) are now down 3.6% in the after-hours trading session.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) continued their descent in after-hours trading, down another 0.28% and 0.42%, respectively. They’re in a similar predicament to Intel, as they initially missed out on the mobile revolution and are only now pushing into that market, although they still rely heavily on PC sales to drive revenue and profits. And since Intel warned of a possibly slower-than-expected third quarter, investors are surely feeling that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) will experience similar results from their PC-related businesses.
The article PC Stocks Drop During the Day and Keep Falling After-Hours originally appeared on Fool.com is written by Matt Thalman.
Fool contributor Matt Thalman owns shares of Microsoft. Check back Monday through Friday as Matt explains what caused the Dow’s winners and losers of the day, and every Saturday for a weekly recap. Follow Matt on Twitter: @mthalman5513. The Motley Fool recommends Intel and owns shares of Intel and Microsoft.
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