5:00PM Markets turn lower on Dell profit warning and slowing economy.

-Dow closed down 59.72 points, Nasdaq down 19.03 and S&P 500 down 8.84.
-Yield on 10-year bond closed at 5.047% and 30-year bond closed at 5.1%.
-Crude oil closed up 16 cents to close at $74.43 per barrel.
-Gold closed $12.30 lower to $620.20 per ounce.

-Asian markets closed lower, led by India, Singapore and Australia.

-European Markets closed lower across the region. France, UK, Russia and Spain lost at least 0.85%. Germany lost 1.7% and South Africa declined 1.66%.

-Latin American Markets Brazil and Argentina lost 1% but Mexico gained a fraction.


11:30AM Stock markets turned to the downside.
Technology stocks showed significant weakness in morning trading, as a warning from Dell (DELL: chart) outweighed better-than-expected quarterly results from Microsoft (MSFT: chart) and Google (GOOG: chart). Microsoft advanced 4.6%, helping to limit the downside for the Dow. The Amex Computer Hardware Index dropped 2.9%. Semiconductor stocks also moved to the downside, dragged by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: chart), down 13% and Broadcom (BRCM: chart), down 10%. Some disk drive stocks came under pressure, with shares of Hutchinson Technology (HTCH: chart), down 12.1% after the company reported Q3 earnings that fell sharply year-over-year. The airline sector declined, as an increase by the price of oil has renewed concerns about the impact of higher fuel costs. Some telecommunications, housing, and brokerage stocks also posted substantial losses. Among telecom stocks, Ericsson (ERICY: chart) fell 1.7% after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q2 sales. In contrast, some utilities stocks moved to the upside, with NiSource (NI: chart), PSEG (PEG: chart), and Southern (SO: chart) posting notable gains.


10:30AM India’s Sensex declined on rate worries.
Sensex in India closed at 10,085.61, down 267 points in Friday’s trading. For the week the index lost 592 points or 5.5%. Volatility plagued the market during the week. Volatile metals, oil and global markets have impacted the trading. International investors have been selling stocks in India on the fears that the interest rates in the U.S. Domestic mutual funds sold on Friday on the fears that Reserve Bank of India may increase the rates in the coming week.

Construction company Larsen & Toubro (L&T) reported quarterly profit rise of 9.9% on revenue growth of 11.7%. The second quarter profit was bolstered by the boom in infrastructure spending from the Central and State governments. The company has benefited from the recent projects for national highway, water plants and project for oil refineries. The company has also formed a subsidiary in Kuwait for the local business. The stock closed at rupees 2,027, down 5% on the earnings news.

Tata Steel traded 1.8% down to close at rupees 478.25. The company reported 11% rise in revenue and 3.2% rise in profit in the first quarter. The stock traded down on a trading volume of 2.6 million shares.


9:45AM Stocks opened mixed on earnings reports.
U.S. stocks made a mixed performance at opening due to rising oil prices and disappointing news from high-profile tech companies. The Dow and the S&P 500 moved modestly higher, while the Nasdaq dropped below the unchanged line, reflecting weakness in the tech sector. Crude futures rose Friday on the Mideast crisis and Bernanke’s comments that energy prices are to blame for inflationary pressures.

The losses by tech stocks came as a warning from Dell (DELL: chart) offset better-than-expected quarterly results from Microsoft (MSFT: chart) and Google (GOOG: chart). The computer hardware sector reversed from solid gains Thursday on Apple’s profit and dropped 3.5% due to the earnings warning from Dell. The semiconductor sector also posted significant weakness, with Broadcom (BRCM: chart) down 12% on Q2 revenue. The company said that an ongoing review of its equity awards delayed the release of its earnings. Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: chart) dropped 10% as the chipmaker posted disappointing results. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 16.97, or 0.16%. At the same time, the drug sector showed a modest advance, though Eli Lilly (LLY: chart) edged down by about 1% on its quarterly results. The utility sector showed a modest gain as well. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index added 1.21, or 0.1%, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 6.84, or 0.34%.


9:00AM Stock futures pointed to a flat opening on Dell warning.
Stock futures pointed to a flat market opening Friday morning as a profit warning by Dell Inc. outweighed stronger-than-expected quarterly results by Caterpillar Inc. Dell is the latest high-profile tech disappointment after Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and Yahoo.

In earlier trading the Nasdaq was moving higher on favorable results from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT: chart), as the world''s largest software maker raised its full-year outlook on strong demand for Windows and said it planned a $40 billion share buyback. However, the tech-heavy average fell after the Dell (DELL: chart) announcement. Shares of the personal computer maker dropped 12.3% in pre-market trading after warning that Q2 earnings and revenue would come below forecasts, citing ‘aggressive pricing’ in a slowing market. Dell expects to report Q2 earnings of 21 to 23 cents per share, below the expected 32 cents a share. That disappointing piece of news offset positive news for the market by Caterpillar (CAT: chart). The shares of the heavy equipment maker rose 2.8% after reporting higher quarterly profit and lifted outlook for the full year. Also after the close Thursday, Google Inc. (GOOG: chart) reported a quarterly profit above market expectations, sending its shares up 1%. The web search company said Q2 profit more than doubled as it expanded its leading share of the market for online-search advertising. Standard & Poor''s 500 futures were last up 0.50 point, even with fair value. Dow Jones industrial average futures were up 3 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 6.75 points.

Broadcom (BRCM: chart), communications semiconductors maker, reported second-quarter revenue in line with estimates but issued a disappointing third-quarter forecast. Revenue for the most recent quarter increased 56% to $941.1 million from last year''s $604.9 million. The management said it could not post additional results for the second quarter until equity reward reviews and audit procedures have ended and restated financial statements have been completed. Broadcom expects third-quarter revenue to be about $900 million on inventory corrections across half of the company’s divisions.

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT: chart), heavy equipment maker, posted second-quarter earnings of $1.05 billion, or $1.52 a share vs. $760 million, or $1.08 a share a year earlier. Sales and revenue increased 13% to $10.61 billion from $9.36 billion a year earlier. Higher earnings were attributed to the better price realization and growing sales volumes, which were partially overshadowed by increasing core operating expenses. The company boosted its forecast for the year to earnings of $5.25 to $5.50 a share with sales and revenue climbing between 12% and 15% from an earlier guidance for earnings of $4.85 to $5.20 a share on sales and revenue increase of 10%.

Cognos (COGN: chart) first-quarter earnings declined to $14.5 million, or 16 cents a share, from $20.4 million, or 22 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, earnings would have been 16 cents a share. Revenue rose 8.5% from last year to $217 million, with license revenue climbing 3.6% to $73.7 million. The business development software firm sees second-quarter adjusted earnings at 22 to 26 cents a share and revenue at $220 million to $228 million.

Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY: chart) reported second-quarter earnings of $822 million, or 76 cents a share, versus a loss of $252 million, or 23 cents a share last year. The year-earlier results include a product liability expense of $1.073 billion, or 90 cents a share. Sales added 5% in the latest quarter to $3.87 billion helped by the company’s new products such as the depression treatment Cymbalta.