US share markets dropped today, pulled down by financials despite some good earnings reports from tech stocks like IBM and Apple.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 12.64 points (0.11 per cent) to finish at 11,825.29, while the broad-market S&P 500 index lost 13.10 points (1.01 per cent) at 1281.92
Meanwhile the tech-rich Nasdaq dropped 40.49 points (1.46 per cent) to 2725.36.
Banks were a distinct drag on the market, with Bank of America losing 4.10 per cent, Citigroup down 1.04 per cent, and Goldman Sachs, which turned in a sharp fall in fourth-quarter profit, off 4.80 per cent.
Goldman, the Wall Street investment banking powerhouse, reported a 52 per cent fall in fourth-quarter profit, which dragged full-year 2010 earnings down by 38 per cent from a year earlier.
"The Goldman earnings were weak, it set the tone for the day," said Mace Blicksilver of Marblehead Asset Management.
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"It was the first down day we've had in two months (so) you can't really make too much of it: whether it is a one-day wonder or whether it is the start of something meaningful."
Among shares in focus, Dow component gained 5.04 per cent after posting strong, forecast-beating earnings after the closing bell yesterday.
Shares in fertiliser giant Mosaic were down 10.49 per cent after Cargill announced yesterday it would dispose of its controlling shareholding in a swap-like transaction with trusts which hold large chunks of Cargill shares.
The move sparked widespread speculation that it would over time leave Mosaic attractive prey for a takeover.
Bond prices rose as yields dropped. The 10-year Treasury yielded 3.337 per cent, down from 3.364 per cent late yesterday, while the 30-year Treasury went to 4.526 per cent against 4.561 per cent a day ago. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
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