Better than expected gross domestic product (GDP) figures gave stocks a much needed lift at the start of the day but they have lost most of those early gains.

Technology appears to be hardest hit sector with the Nasdaq losing all its gains and falling into negative territory.

The main reason for the mid-morning downturn appears to be the continued worries about the financial positions of Greece, Spain and Portugal.

US GDP rose by 5.7% in the fourth quarter of 2009, ahead of expectations of a 4.2% rise. The surge is the fastest rate of increase for six years. Consumer sentiment has also improved during January.

Across the markets the NASDAQ Composite is 6 points lower at 2,173 while the S&P 500 is 1 points firmer at 1,085. The Dow Jones industrial average is still 32 points higher at 10,153.

Strong results from Microsoft and Amazon after the bell yesterday initially boosted sentiment, although Microsoft shares are now lower. Microsoft posted a 60% rise in net profit to $6.7bn, while Amazon did even better with net income for the three months to December up 71% to $384m, or 85 cents per share. Revenue rose 42% to $9.5bn from a year ago.

Broker comment is driving demand for the world's biggest retailer Wal-Mart. Goldman Sachs has raised its rating on the owner of Asda to 'buy' from 'neutral'. It also increased its earnings per share forecast from $3.97 to $4.11.

Truck maker Paccar is also wanted after its fourth quarter earnings per share of 16 cents were more than double what the market had been expecting.

Networking equipment maker Juniper Networks reported underlying fourth quarter earnings per share came in at 32 cents per shares, well above market expectations.

Label maker Avery Dennison is the biggest faller on the S&P after its fourth quarter earnings were well below expectations.

Shares in Kraft Food have fallen to $27.95 each.


S&P 500 - Risers
Tenet Hlthcre Corp. (THC) $5.45 +5.62%
P N C Fin Svcs Gr (PNC) $56.56 +4.47%
News Corp. Class A (NWSA) $12.90 +3.04%
Slm Corp. (SLM) $10.60 +2.86%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $15.83 +2.86%
Bard C R Inc. (BCR) $82.80 +2.86%
Time Warner Inc. (TWX) $27.54 +2.72%
Genworth Financial (GNW) $14.00 +2.71%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $18.41 +2.68%
Eastman Kodak Co (EK) $6.07 +2.62%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Avery Dennison Corp. (AVY) $33.74 -11.44%
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $25.75 -10.53%
Airgas Inc. (ARG) $43.22 -7.71%
L S I Logic Corp. (LSI) $5.05 -7.34%
Motorola Inc. (MOT) $6.11 -5.71%
Leggett Platt Inc. (LEG) $18.71 -5.55%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $8.89 -5.48%
Newell Rubbermaid (NWL) $13.55 -4.58%
Kla-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $28.20 -4.02%
Invesco Ads (IVZ) $19.42 -3.93%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $53.01 +2.22%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $53.77 +2.20%
Du Pont E I De Nemours and Co. (DD) $33.02 +2.17%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $38.75 +2.05%
American Express Inc. (AXP) $38.16 +1.95%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $27.75 +1.50%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $50.83 +1.11%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $29.63 +0.95%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $67.97 +0.90%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $54.64 +0.85%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $28.53 -2.16%
Boeing Co. (BA) $61.30 -2.01%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $19.69 -1.15%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $47.27 -1.09%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $63.34 -0.72%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $123.06 -0.56%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $72.84 -0.55%
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) $27.95 -0.32%
Bank Of America Corp. (BAC) $15.32 -0.29%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $64.81 -0.23%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $32.21 +5.54%
Warner Chilcott Plc (WCRX) $27.71 +4.25%
News Corp. Class A (NWSA) $12.90 +3.04%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $18.41 +2.68%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $129.13 +2.46%
Life Technologies Corp. (LIFE) $50.53 +2.33%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $37.13 +2.29%
Paccar Inc. (PCAR) $36.01 +2.21%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $15.96 +2.18%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $62.90 +1.83%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $25.75 -10.53%
Seagate Technology (STX) $17.30 -5.77%
Cerner Corp (CERN) $76.86 -4.24%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $32.13 -4.23%
Kla-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $28.20 -4.02%
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL) $17.84 -3.57%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $41.27 -3.37%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $15.61 -2.98%
Maxim Integrated Prod Comm Stk (MXIM) $17.67 -2.48%
Dell Inc. (DELL) $12.95 -2.45%

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