Leading Wall St shares were mixed in early trading despite signs the US economic recovery is entrenched and upbeat results from bluechips such as Kodak and eBay. By mid-morning, the Dow Jones was up 3.63 points to 10,627.25 while the Nasdaq was down 8.28 points to 2,134.17. The Conference Board's index of leading indicators for the US economy posted its ninth successive gain today, coming in at 114.3 - a 0.2pc gain on the month. In a separate report, the Labour Department said that new jobless claims were lower than expected, raising hopes that the slump in the jobs market may be coming to an end.
A slew of better-than-expected earnings reports added to investor confidence, though this had yet to be translated into significant stock buying. Eastman Kodak shares shot up by 13pc after it reported earnings per share that rose from a year earlier and topped estimates. Kodak also said it would slash 20pc of its work force and take charges of around USD1.3bn over the next three years. Online auctioneer eBay's stock jumped 5.5pc after it reported record revenues, strong earnings and said that earnings should grow by more than 50pc in 2004, boosted by a 39pc rise in sales. //www.fxcentre.com