CLOSING BELL

Dow 10991.99  -213.04, Nasdaq 2471.47  -51.48, S&P 1183.47  -28.34 

Stocks traders lower today in high volume after S&P downgraded Greece’s debt to Junk and lowered Portugal’s debt two notches  from A+ to A- and gave the country’s debt outlook a negative rating.

In earnings news today 3M (MMM) 87.97 +0.53, +0.61% reported earnings of $1.47 beating estimates by +$0.26 and Aflac (AFL) 52.41 – 2.32, -4.24 reported earnings after the market close of $1.41 beating estimates by +$0.09.  Shares are trading at 52.70 +0.29, +0.55% higher in the aftermarket.

In economic news today the S&P/CaseShiller Home Price Index for February came in at 144.0, which is essentially in-line with the 144.8 that had been forecast. The 20-city composite for February increased +0.6% year-over-year. Estimates were for an annual increase of +1.3% in February, it was the first rise since 2006.

Consumer confidence climbed in April coming in at 57.9, which higher than the 53.5 that economist had estimated and was the best reading since August 2008.

Advancing Sectors: None
Declining Sectors: Financials -3.4%, Materials -3.2%, Consumer Discretionary -2.9%, Energy -2.8%, Industrial -2.6%, Tech -2.0%, Utilities -1.8%, Consumer Staples -1.7%, Telecom -1.2%, Health Care -1.1%