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Global equities are mostly flat as disappointing US existing home sales numbers weighed down on stocks today.

European stocks were mixed today after falling for two days straight.

• The Eurostoxx 50 (^STOXX50E) fell 0.30% to 2,568.91.
• The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) rose 0.18% to 5,902.21.
• Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) rose 0.24% to 7,072.12.

Europe's sovereign debt crisis was the topic of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Republicans attacked the International Monetary Fund's extensive lending to European countries. Geithner responded by reminding the committee members that the IMF has never cost US taxpayers a dime. He said that with three countries in Europe currently being aided by the IMF, the US has more to lose by pulling back.

US stocks are mixed as well.

• The Dow (^DJI) fell 0.07% to 13,161.22.
• The S&P 500 (SPY) rose 0.04% to 1,406.02.
• The Nasdaq (^IXIC) gained 0.40% to 3,086.46.

The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales fell 0.9% to an annualized rate of 4.59 million in February. Economists forecast 4.61 million. January's pace was revised up from 4.57 million to 4.63 million. The supply of properties on the market actually grew, dashing hopes that the housing market will come out of its slump.

Copper futures stabilized, up 0.26% after falling sharply yesterday on concerns that Chinese demand for the industrial metal will slow.

Oil futures continued to advance after an unexpected shortfall in US stockpiles was reported. WTI is trading at $107.21/barrel, up 1.07%. Brent is up 0.22% at $124.39.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) shares fell 2% after the company announced it would fuse together its PC and imaging businesses.

Oracle (ORCL) beat earnings expectations yesterday. Shares of Oracle opened high and gradually moved back to yesterday's level.

Goldman Sachs (GS) upgraded networking site LinkedIn (LNKD) to a "buy," sending shares up nearly 8%.

General Mills (GIS) fell 0.62% after reporting that earnings fell from the year before. Budget-conscious customers are reacting negatively to price increases, but the company hopes that demand will pick up as consumers grow accustomed to new prices.

Twitter: @vincent_trivett

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 21st, 2012 at 1:15 pm and is filed under MV News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.