Stocks Wavered amid Earnings

U.S. stocks wavered between gains and losses at the open Tuesday as investors grappled with less-than- stellar earnings from some big corporations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 76.82 points to 11,320.18. The S&P was off 7.48 points to 1,193.38. The Nasdaq Composite fell 21.85 points to 2,593.07.
 
Bank of America Corp posted a third-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by accounting gains and asset sales, but the bank’s main businesses showed signs of weakness as lending profits dropped and expenses rose. Its net income for shareholders was $5.9 billion, or 56 cents a share, in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $7.6 billion, or 77 cents per share, a year earlier, when it took a $10.4 billion accounting charge.

Goldman Sachs, weighed down by problems its private equity portfolio and the broader global economic woes, reported a loss of $428 million, compared with a $1.7 billion profit a year ago. The company reported a loss of 84 cents a share, worse than analysts predictions of a loss of 16 cents, according to Thomson Reuters.

Coca-Cola Co. said Tuesday its third-quarter profit rose to $2.22 billion, or 95 cents a share, from $2.06 billion, or 88 cents a share, in the year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, the Atlanta-based drink maker said it earned $1.03 a share, matching the company’s profit target. Revenue jumped to $12.25 billion from $8.43 billion.

Officials and big banks are working on a plan that would make refinancing available to some borrowers whose houses are worth less than their loans, so long as they are current on mortgage payments, the Wall Street Journal reported.

China’s economy grew 9.1 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace since 2009.  The gain was less than the median estimate of 9.3 percent in a Bloomberg News survey of 22 economists and followed a 9.5 percent increase in the previous three months.