Wall Street: Wednesday opening
STOCKS opened lower as investors digested the previous session's heady run-up in the Dow and sifted through a flurry of earnings reports.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 17.32 points, or 0.17% at 10,112.24 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 3.85 points, or 0.2% at 1,920.44.
Shares of China Life Insurance rose 27% in their trading debut after a frenzy for Chinese stocks enabled the company to raise $3bn in this year's biggest initial public offering.
China's largest life insurer, with a market share of about 45% saw its offering 25 times subscribed as investors renewed their craving for IPOs and clamoured for a piece of the Chinese economy, which has been growing at more than 8% a year.
China Life's American depositary shares, which equal 40 Hong Kong-listed shares , traded at $23.75 early on Wednesday, compared with their offer price of US$18.68 each.
Bear Stearns rose $0.75, or 1% to $75.25. The brokerage posted a 51% jump in quarterly profit that was well ahead of estimates, helped by strong equity and high-yield bond underwriting and another solid quarter for bond trading.
And Lehman Brothers fell $0.79, or 1.1% to $73.77 despite saying its quarterly earnings more than doubled, helped by strong bond trading.
Genetic research company Sequenom rose $0.21, or 6.8% to $3.31. It has formed a partnership worth up to $30 million with Procter & Gamble to develop drugs for osteoporosis.
Boeing rose $0.17, or 0.4% to $40.10. After the close on Tuesday it said it will begin booking orders for its new wide-bodied 7E7 jetliner, which will enter service in 2008.
Foods ginat Kraft fell $0.57, or 1.8% to $31.02. The company, which is under pressure from Wall Street to turn around its North American business, removed Betsy Holden as co-chief executive and put her counterpart, Roger Deromedi, in sole charge, abandoning an often-criticised joint leadership structure.
Textronic, the maker of Cessna business jets and Bell helicopters rose $0.83, or 1.5% to $54.70. It has raised its earnings forecast for this year following an aggressive cost-cutting campaign.
Chemicals company Cabot rose $0.26, or 0.8% to $32.06. It restated its earnings upward for the quarter and year ended on September 30, due in part to adjustments to its pension plan.
