MW: U.S. stocks extend declines despite weaker dollar
By Donna Kardos Yesalavich, MarketWatch
U.S. stocks extend declines despite weaker dollar
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks opened slightly lower Wednesday, extending Tuesday's declines despite weakness in the dollar.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU 10,276, -10.06, -0.10%) fell 23 points, or 0.3%, to 10,259 in early trading. Technology components Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO 23.60, -0.21, -0.88%) and United Technologies Corp. (UTX 67.00, -1.23, -1.80%) were among the Dow's weakest components, off more than 1% each. DuPont Co. (DD 31.30, -0.33, -1.04%) also fell, hurt by declines in metals futures.
The Nasdaq Composite (COMP 2,162, -10.62, -0.49%) fell 0.5%. The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX 1,089, -2.55, -0.23%) slipped 0.3%, weighed down by its technology, consumer-staples and industrials sectors.
The stock declines came despite a weaker dollar, which was lower against both the euro and the yen in recent trading. For much of this year's rally, the dollar and stocks have appeared to be inversely correlated.
Meanwhile, Treasurys rose. Metals futures moved lower, but crude-oil futures gained.
Wednesday's action follows the Dow's triple-digit decline Tuesday, which came as downgrades from credit-rating agencies sparked worries about the creditworthiness of Dubai and Greece. Wednesday, the finance minister of Greece pledged that the country would not default on its debt obligations, though shares of Greek banks, including National Bank of Greece (NBG 5.04, -0.41, -7.51%) , declined again. American depositary shares of National Bank of Greece were down 8.4% recently.
Among stocks in focus, microchip maker Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN 25.65, -0.68, -2.58%) lifted its fourth-quarter outlook. But its shares fell 2.8% in recent trading, as the company has almost too much of a good thing: more chip orders than it can fill in a timely fashion. Read more about Texas Instruments' forecast.
Fellow chipmaker Rambus Inc. (RMBS 21.70, +0.43, +2.02%) rose 2.6% after reaching a deal with the European Commission on memory-chip royalties. Read more about Rambus.
