P&G, AT&T drop after earnings, holding back Dow

4/24/2013

NEW YORK — Weak earnings forecasts from Procter & Gamble and AT&T held the Dow Jones industrial average back on a mixed day for the stock market.

P&G, which makes Tide detergent and Gillette razors, fell 5 percent after predicting weaker profits than analysts were expecting. AT&T dropped 6 percent after losing subscribers from contract-based plans for the first time as smartphones sales slow.

The Dow was down 24 points at 14,695 as of midday today, a fall of 0.1 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up a point, less than 0.1 percent, at 1,579. The Nasdaq composite was down five points, or 0.2 percent, at 3,263.

A weak report on sales of durable goods also discouraged investors.

Oil and gold prices rose. Bond yields were little changed.