Stocks open mixed on fresh fears about Europe

By msnbc.com wire services

U.S. stocks are mixed in early trading as investors sort through earnings reports and weigh another sign that Europe's credit crisis isn't solved.

Moody's cautioned it may slap a negative outlook on France's Aaa credit rating in the next three months if costs from helping to bail out banks and other euro zone members stretch its budget too thin.

Shortly after the market opened, the Dow was down 42 points, or 0.4 percent, to 11,354. The S&P 500 rose less than a point to 1,201. The Nasdaq fell 1, or 0.1 percent, to 2,614.

Moody's comments come a day after Germany's finance minister cautioned not to expect a solution to the region's debt crisis at an EU conference this weekend.

"We had a huge run upwards when people thought maybe this wasn't so bad, we're coming out of it, and then we find out because of the comments made in Europe that we're not even close to solving it," said Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at Channel Capital Research.com.

Investors are keeping a close watch on fresh earnings reports this week. International Business Machines Corp's quarterly results failed to impress investors used to a robust showing from the technology bellwether. That added to worries over lackluster corporate information technology spending. IBM shares fell 4.1 percent to $178.90.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc , the largest U.S. investment bank, lost $428 million in the quarter, only its second quarterly loss as a public company. hurt by sharp declines in the value of investment securities and customer trading assets. The shares rose 0.8 percent to $97.70 in premarket trading.

Bank of America Corp , the largest U.S. bank by assets, reported a $5.9 billion profit after selling shares of China Construction Bank and recording two accounting gains. The shares rose 2.2 percent to $6.17 premarket.

U.S. stocks suffered their worst loss in two weeks on Monday after comments from Germany's finance minister renewed investor fears over Europe.

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Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/18/8380512-stock-open-mixed-on-fresh-fears-about-europe?preview=true

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