STOCKS NEWS US-S&P earnings triple year-over-year: TR data

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1139 EST 1Feb2010-S&P earnings triple year-over
year: TR data

With 45 percent of the S&P 500 having reported, fourth-quarter earnings have tripled from the prior year, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Earnings for companies in the index are up 202 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the Thomson Reuters Director's Report, with the material and consumer discretionary sectors seeing the largest gains. Earnings for the materials sector are up 194 percent while the consumer discretionary group is up 134.5 percent.

The biggest loser is the energy group, where profits are down 25 percent year-over-year.

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1123 EST 1Feb2010
Markets gain on manufacturing data, Exxon

U.S. stocks rose on Monday, following three weeks of losses, on stronger-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data and results from Exxon Mobil Corp that beat Wall Street estimates.

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The Dow Jones industrial average gained 91.59 points, or 0.91 percent, to 10,158.92. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 10.83 points, or 1.01 percent, to 1,084.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 11.46 points, or 0.53 percent, to 2,158.81.

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1115 EST 1Feb2010
Warner Chilcott falls after MS downgrade

Shares of Warner Chilcott fell on Monday after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to 'equal weight' from 'overweight,' saying the company's largest products may not be safe from generic competition.

The company Chilcott gained Asacol, which treats a form of inflammatory bowel disease, through its acquisition of Procter & Gamble Co's pharmaceutical business in October. The drug's patent is under a dispute with Roxane Laboratories, a subsidiary of Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim.

Morgan Stanley said its view was based upon patent litigation court records and documents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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The stock fell 5.8 percent to $25.75.

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1109 EST 1Feb2010
McDonald's U.S. trend sustainable: CEO

McDonald's Corp Chief Executive Jim Skinner said December's increase in U.S. same-store sales was a 'sustainable result' in the longer term despite a weather-affected January lull.

'The beverage additions that we are going to have this year, frappes and smoothies as well as the breakfast dollar menu which will be running through 2010 and beyond ... those things continue to do well to for us,' Skinner told Reuters in an interview.

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Shares of McDonald's, a Dow component, rose 2.3 percent to $63.84.

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1059 EST 1Feb2010
Barclays downgrades FirstEnergy, RRI Energy

Barclays Capitalcut power companies FirstEnergy Corp and RRI Energy Inc to 'equal-weight' from 'overweight,' and said aggressive policy making by EPA could help rationalize oversupply plaguing the market.

The brokerage cited performance as the reason for cutting FirstEnergy.

Analyst Gregg Orrill, who cut his target on RRI stock to $5 from $7.50, said rising prices and potential impact of environmental rulings from the Environmental Protection Agency could affect the company's coal fleet.

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Shares of RRI fell 1.4 percent to $4.88 while FirstEnergy lost 1 percent to $43.18.

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