Pfizer falls short to weigh on Wall Street

Dow Jones:12,807.51 (+0.15) S&P 500:1,356.62 (-4.60) Nasdaq:2,841.62 (-22.46)

SHARES IN Pfizer slipped back after its first-quarter revenues fell short of expectations, weighing on the healthcare sector and helping to lead the wider markets lower.

The world’s largest drugmaker by revenue reported that sales had fallen slightly in the quarter to $16.5 billion (€11.1 billion), which was short of the $16.6 billion expected by analysts.

This left shares in the company down 2.8 per cent as investors chose to focus on this revenue miss rather than the company’s 10 per cent increase in net income.

Watson Pharmaceuticals in turn fell 1.2 per cent and Mylan was down 2.5 per cent.

The biggest drags on the SP index were energy and material stocks as many commodity prices lost ground. Halliburton, the oilfield services company, was down 2.1 per cent while Noble Energy fell 2.9 per cent. Chesapeake Energy fell by 5.7 per cent. Massey Energy, the coal miner, fell 3.6 per cent while Consol Energy lost 3.5 per cent.

JP Morgan released a downbeat note saying it expected “turbulence” in equity markets during the coming months because of the turmoil in the Middle East, fallout from the Japan earthquake, US budget deficit concerns and growing inflationary pressures.

However, a survey from Charles Schwab, the retail brokerage, found that investor sentiment was at its highest point since late 2009 with 47 per cent of traders surveyed saying that they were feeling optimistic about the market compared with 28 per cent a year ago.

In another positive sign, US factory orders rose in March for the fifth consecutive month.

Elsewhere, shares in MetroPCS Communications jumped 10.1 per cent, the best-performing stock in the SP 500, after the wireless provider reported a doubling in its first-quarter earnings.

American Tower advanced 1.9 per cent while ATT added 2.1 per cent. The SP telecommunications index was up 1 per cent.

In the utility sector, FirstEnergy put on 6.1 per cent after the company gave an earnings outlook that surpassed expectations. Anadarko Petroleum, which has a stake in BP’s disaster-hit Macondo well, reported a 12 per cent fall in earnings for the first quarter because of a decline in gas prices and a rise in costs. The stock declined 2.3 per cent. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011)