April 23 2014: Markets opened lower on Wednesday following the worst report on new home sales since last July. Profit-taking seemed to be the order of the day in the tech sector ahead of two big earnings report due out after the closing bell today — Apple and Facebook. Shortly before the closing bell today the DJIA was down 0.04%, the S&P 500 was down 0.19%, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.76%.

Telecom giant AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), which traded down 3.66% at $34.97, led the slide in the DJIA today. The company’s first quarter results were good, but investors wanted to hear better news on guidance and margins. The stock’s 52-week range is $31.74 to $37.97. Share volume was about 70% above the daily average of around 31 million shares traded.

Another Dow 30 component, The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) traded down 1.38% at $78.57 in a 52-week range of $72.21 to $83.20. The poor report on new home sales means that customers won’t be buying the goods Home Depot sells to spiff up those new homes. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 7 million shares.

One Dow stock that did move higher was The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) which traded today at $130.50, posting a rise of 2.31% shortly before the closing bell. The stock’s 52-week range is $87.20 to $144.57. Share volume was about 15% above the daily average of around 5.2 million shares traded. Boeing posted an easy beat this morning because the company had managed expectations so low. Investors apparently didn’t mind.

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Ahead of earnings today, Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 component Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) traded down 2.25% today at $61.62 in a 52-week range of $22.67 to $72.59. Investors are a bit jittery about quarterly results and whether or not Facebook is gaining or losing membership. Volume was about flat with the daily average of around 68 million shares traded.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 13 were set to close higher today while 17 look to close lower.

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