Dow Gut-checked At Open
The National Association of Realtors reports sales of existing single-family home rose 1% to an annualized rate of 4.87 million units in December, below the Street’s expectation for 4.94 million units.
The Dow had fallen 140 points before 10:00 A.M. ET, or 0.86 percent, after a report showed U.S. factory growth skidded to the lowest level since October and corporate heavyweights revealed mixed quarterly earnings. The broader S&P 500 is down 0.7%, with every major sector in the red.
The number of Americans filing for first-time weekly jobless claims rose last week to 326,000 from a downwardly revised 325,000. Wall Street expected the number of claims to hold steady at 326,000.
