January 28, 2014: Markets opened mixed on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq trailing at the opening bell as shares in Apple sold off following last night’s earnings report. Today’s economic data was also mixed, with house prices and consumer confidence rising while durable goods orders were weaker. For investors, the question is whether or not today was a dead-cat bounce. The DJIA closed up 0.57%, the S&P 500 closed up 0.61%, and the Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.35%.

Drug giant Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) led the DJIA gainers today, up 2.56% for the day following a fourth-quarter report that came in better than expected. Guidance for 2014 reflected a negative impact of $3 billion due to patent and other exclusivity losses and an expected $5 billion in share buybacks. Shares of Pfizer closed at $30.42 in a 52-week range of $26.79 to $32.50. Volume was about 35% above the daily average of around 24 million shares.

Another DJIA stock boosting the index today was Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), up 2.19% to close at $220.96 in a 52-week range of $154.14 to $235.50. Shares of Visa and other credit card companies got a boost from the rise in consumer confidence. Visa, the most heavily weighted of the Dow 30 stocks, reports fourth quarter results on Thursday. Tuesday volume was roughly 25% above the daily average of about 3 million shares.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) fell 7.99% today to close at $506.50 in a 52-week range of $385.10 to $575.14. Apple’s sales of its iPhone fell short in the fourth quarter and investors couldn’t wait to unload the shares. Carl Icahn bought the dip, however, adding $500 million to his existing stake in the company. Volume was nearly triple the daily average of around 11.6 million shares traded.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) added 1.56% to close at $25.46 in a 52-week range of $21.11 to $28.09. GE had no big news today, although CEO Jeff Immelt bought 40,000 shares on Monday at an average price of $25.04 per share. Volume was about 32% higher than the daily average of around 32 million shares traded.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 24 closed higher today while just 6 closed lower.

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