Market Recap: Stocks Mixed on Germany’s Shakeup & Earnings

Markets closed mixed on Wall Street today:

▲ Dow +0.35 percent
▲ S&P +0.23 percent
▼ Nasdaq -0.27 percent
▲ Oil +1.18 percent
▼ Gold -0.26 percent

On the commodities front:

▲ Oil (NYSE:USO) rose to $103.52 a barrel
▲ Gold (NYSE:GLD) falling to $1,723.90 an ounce
▼ Silver (NYSE:SLV) fell 0.25 percent to settle at $33.22

(Related: House Votes to Extend Payroll Tax Cuts, Unemployment Benefits in $150B Stimulus Package)

Today’s markets were mixed because:

1) Economy: The Consumer Price Index rose 0.2 percent in January after holding steady for two consecutive months, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report today, while core inflation rose 0.2 percent, and the Conference Board’s Leading Economic Indicators index ticked up 4 percent.

2) Germany: The one righteous stalwart remaining in the eurozone, Germany took a hit today when President Christian Wulff unexpectedly resigned. Though the German presidency is largely symbolic, Chancellor Angela Merkel must now undergo what could prove to be a politically divisive search for Wulff’s replacement, just when European leaders are meant to be hammering out a bailout deal with Greece.

3) Companies: H.J. Heinz and Campbell Soup shares edged higher after beating earnings estimates, while Nordstrom went the opposite direction as yearly profits missed targets. Baidu beat estimates, but shares declined as the company issued a poor revenue outlook for the current quarter.

Brightcove shares rocketed as high as 35 percent today in the stock’s market debut, with shares initially priced at $11 in its IPO rising above $15, but it was a bad day for drugmakers Gilead Sciences, and Johnson & Johnson, which both closed the day lower after the former said the majority of patients involved in a hepatitis C treatment experienced a relapse within four weeks, while the latter had to recall more than half a million bottles of Infants’ Tylenol because of consumer complaints about the difficulties of using the dosing system.

[Editor’s note: the above is a cross post that originally appeared on Wall St. Cheat Sheet.]