* Kimberly-Clark, Johnson Controls down after outlooks
* SanDisk shares rally following results
* Energy, material sectors among the day's weakest
* Dow off 0.3 pct, S&P off 0.2 pct, Nasdaq flat
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates to afternoon trading)
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Monday
on signs some corporate outlooks were being strained by
concerns over higher raw material costs, including consumer
products maker Kimberly-Clark Corp.
The market's decline in a low-volume session followed some
strong earnings last week, which helped pushed the Dow to a
closing high for the year. The S&P 500 has moved to the top
end of its recent trading range where it is facing
resistance.
Kimberly-Clark <KMB.N> sank 2.9 percent to $64.13 and was
one of the S&P 500's top percentage decliners after it cut the
low end of its full-year outlook, saying the cost of pulp and
other goods were rising more than twice as much as it had
expected. For details, see []
The Kleenex tissue maker is one of the companies most
exposed to rising commodity costs because its products contain
oil-based materials and paper.
Johnson Controls Inc <JCI.N> fell 3.3 percent to $39.38
after the company, one of the world's largest auto suppliers,
said its fiscal third-quarter results would be hit by a drop
in car production following the earthquake in Japan.
[]
"There are some legitimate inflation concerns among
investors related to raw material prices, which could put
pressure on margins later in the year," said John Carey,
portfolio manager of Pioneer Investment Management in Boston,
which has about $260 billion in assets under management.
Of S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far, 75
percent beat analysts' expectations. That is just above the
average over the past four quarters but well above the average
of 62 percent since 1994, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Helping the Nasdaq, SanDisk Corp <SNDK.O> rose 1.6 percent
to $49.81 after raising its 2011 margin outlook late on
Thursday. []
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was down 34.40
points, or 0.28 percent, at 12,471.59. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was down 2.89 points, or 0.22 percent, at
1,334.49. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up just 0.10
of a point, or unchanged on a percentage basis, at 2,820.26.
Energy and materials companies' shares ranked among the
weakest of the session, with the S&P Energy Index <.GSPE> down
0.7 percent and the S&P Materials Index down 0.6 percent.
Crude oil futures prices fell after hitting their highest
level since September 2008 earlier in the session, while
silver reversed course after a sharp rally. []
The CBOE Vlatility Index <.VIX>, known as the VIX, rose
7.8 percent after falling last week to its lowest level since
2007.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
To see a graphic on first-quarter earnings, see:
http://r.reuters.com/dup98r
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
This week is another hectic one for earnings with 180 S&P
500 companies set to report, including Amazon.com <AMZN.O>,
Coca-Cola Co <KO.N>, Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O> and Exxon Mobil
Corp <XOM.N>.
The week's agenda includes a two-day meeting of the U.S.
Federal Reserve's policymaking committee on Tuesday and
Wednesday. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold the first of
four annual press conferences on Wednesday after the Federal
Open Market Committee's meeting ends. Investors will look for
clues about the direction of monetary policy when the Fed's
bond buying program ends in June.
Traders noted that activity would likely be subdued as
many major European markets remain closed over the long Easter
weekend. About 2.92 billion shares traded on the New York
Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq as of
midday, below average for this point in the session.
(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)
