Wall Street: Tuesday mid-session

12 April 2012

STOCKS drifted after news of an accounting probe at

IBM

The market slipped in early trade, led by IBM, but quickly narrowed its losses as buyers nibbled at selected stocks.

'We're over the worst and where else are you going to put your money so we're going to put it into equities,' said Kevin Connellan, director of equity trading Northern Trust Global Investments. 'On these dips, buyers will come in.'

Investors hoping for a steer from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan were disappointed. In a discussion among international central bankers, Greenspan said the US economy showed evidence of remarkable resilience, but that it was 'too early to get any real fix' on the period ahead.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.68 points at 8896.13 by mid-session. The technology-laced Nasdaq was up 3.91 at 1594.66.

IBM was the biggest percentage loser on the Dow, falling $3.76, or 4%, to $83.66. After the close on Monday the computing giant said the Securities and Exchange Commission was probing how it accounted for some revenue in 2000 and 2001. That revived memories of the accounting scandals of Enron, WorldCom and others that have undermined investor confidence in recent years.

Adding to market jitters was news that federal prosecutors are seeking a criminal indictment against domestic taste-maker Martha Stewart. Her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, slumped $2.07, or 18.5%, to $9.13.

Brocade Communications Systems surged 76 cents, or 13%, to $6.80. Merrill Lynch upgraded the data storage networking company to 'buy,' setting a target price of $7.75.

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