Stocks struggle on energy, tech weakness

Updated: 11:27 p.m. ET

Stocks finished basically unchanged today after an early, modest rally faded away ahead of Thursday's big meeting of the European Central Bank board.

The culprit may well have been profit-taking ahead of the meeting and ahead of a U.S. Labor Department report on jobless claims. Many investors have been hoping the ECB will act on a plan designed to bring the European debt crisis under control. But it now appears the plan that ECB President Mario Draghi has been developing may not be as strong as hoped.

The selling also was the result of a profit warning from FedEx (FDX) and disappointing economic data around the world. FedEx was off $1.74 to $85.80 after warning late Tuesday that fiscal-first-quarter​ results would be weaker than expected. Shares of rival United Parcel Service (UPS) were down $1.76 to $71.94.

Facebook (FB) offered some cheer after CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he would not sell any shares for at least a year. The move by the company's founder and controlling shareholder was seen as a bid to stabilize the company's stock price. The stock was up 85 cents to $18.58 after falling to a new intraday low of $17.55 on Tuesday. The shares are off 51% from their initial public offering price of $38 a share.

The Dow Jones industrials ($INDU) closed up 12 points to 13,047. The blue chips had been up as many as 60 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) was down 1.5 points to 1,403, and the Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) dropped 6 points to 3,069.

Article continues below. The Nasdaq-100 Index ($NDX), which tracks the largest Nasdaq stocks, was off 5 points lower at 2,767. Apple (AAPL), the largest influence on the index, was off $4.74 to $670.23.

Technology, industrial and energy stocks were the market's weak links.

Futures trading suggests a flat open for stocks on Thursday. But that may change first, when the ECB decision comes out from the bank's headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, at 2:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 a.m. ET. The Labor Department's jobless claims report comes out at the same time. (An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated the time of the ECB decision.)

Oil makes a comeback
Oil prices weakened after a Markit Economics report today showed manufacturing weakening in the 17-nation eurozone faster than thought. Markit also reported that manufacturing in China is also falling back.

But prices recovered ahead of the ECB meeting on Thursday. Crude oil (-CL) in New York settled up 6 cents to $95.36 a barrel. It had traded as low as $94.26.

Gold (-GC) was off $2 to $1,694 an ounce. Silver (-SI) dropped 8.6 cents to $33.325 an ounce. Copper (-HG) moved to 6 cents to $3.53 a pound.

Interest rates were little changed. The 10-year Treasury yield moved up to 1.594% from Tuesday's 1.581%. The dollar was off slightly from major currencies.

What the ECB may do
The ECB is expected to unveil -- with broad support from its council members -- an unlimited, sterilized program of bond purchases.

Bloomberg reported that Draghi's plan would involve unlimited buying of government bonds. The ECB has been expected to be cautious about disclosing the size of its bond-buying, given opposition from Germany's central bank.

To sterilize the bond purchases, the ECB will remove from the system elsewhere the same amount of money it spends, Bloomberg News said. That would ensure the program has a neutral impact on eurozone's money supply. 

That's a problem, many economists say. Europe needs to expand credit to spur new economic activity. The plan doesn't make more credit available. 

One more issue: The plan goes nowhere if the German Constitutional Court rules the country can't participate.

Energy prices -- New York close
			Wed.			Tues.			Month chg.			YTD chg.
Crude oil (-CL)			$95.36			$95.30			-1.15%			-3.51%
(per barrel)
Heating oil (-HO)			$3.1176			$3.1468			-1.97%			6.98%
(per gallon)
Natural gas (-NG)			$2.7950			$2.8540			-0.14%			-6.49%
(per mil. BTU)
Unleaded gasoline (-RB)			$2.9498			$2.9522			-0.77%			11.00%
(per gallon)
Brent crude			$113.09			$114.18			-1.29%			5.32%
(per barrel)
Retail gasoline			$3.8240			$3.8240			-0.13%			16.73%
(per gallon; AAA)

FedEx sees the global slowdown firsthand

FedEx, a barometer for the economy because it delivers goods ranging from mobile phones and electronic components to pharmaceuticals, slid after projecting its first decline in quarterly earnings in almost three years.

The company said it expects first-quarter earnings of $1.37 to $1.43 a share, down from earlier guidance of $1.45 to $1.60. The company said "weakness in the global economy constrained revenue growth at FedEx Express more than expected in the earlier guidance."

Productivity gains
The FedEx disappointment was offset by a government report showing that U.S. companies got more output from their workers this spring than initially thought.

Productivity rose at a modest 2.2% annual rate in the April-June quarter, largely because employers cut back sharply on hiring.

Most economists expect productivity will slow later this year, a trend that could boost hiring.

Nokia shares tumble despite new phones
Wall Street thinks Nokia (NOK) made a huge mistake when it announced two new phones today.

The company wouldn't say when the devices would be available to buyers. That information will come next month at the earliest.

Chief Executive Stephen Elop unveiled the flagship Lumia 920 and the mid-tier Lumia 820 at a press event in New York. Both devices use the Windows Phone 8 operating system from Microsoft (MSFT), work on high-speed fourth-generation networks and feature Nokia's advanced mapping and location services. (Microsoft is the publisher of MSN Money.)

But when the company wouldn't say when the phones would be out, the shares plunged and closed down 45 cents to $2.38 in New York.

Timing and wide distribution in time for the holiday shopping season are the key issues. The devices will be going up against Apple's new iPhone, expected to be introduced next week, and new devices powered by Google's (GOOG) Android operating system. Google's Motorola subsidiary introduced three new Droid models today. They will be available for the holidays.

If the Nokia phones are as late to the market as analysts think, it may be too late.

Microsoft was unchanged $30.39.

Winners on the day
Dollar General (DG) advanced 40 cents to $51.06 after the deep-discount retailer reported better-than-expected​ fiscal-second-quarte​r earnings. It also bumped up its full-year earnings and same-store sales guidance and added $500 million to its stock repurchase program.

Safeway (SWY) jumped 68 cents to $16.50 after the supermarket operator said it would spin off its gift-cards subsidiary through an initial public offering.

Guidewire Software (GWRE) climbed $2.90 to $32.25 after the supplier of system software to property and casualty insurers announced fiscal-fourth-quarte​r earnings and revenue that easily beat analyst estimates.

Meanwhile, eighteen of the 30 Dow stocks were higher, led by Walt Disney (DIS), Boeing (BA) and IBM (IBM). American Express (AXP), Chevron (CVX) and United Technologies (UTX) were the laggards.

And 196 S&P 500 stocks showed gains, led by Sealed Air (SEE), for-profit education company Devry (DV) and Safeway. The laggards were cabinet-maker Masco (MAS), chip-maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Monster Beverage (MNST). 

Forty-four Nasdaq-100 stocks saw gains, led by Adobe Systems (ADBE) and for-profit college operator Apollo Group (APOL). Monster Beverage and Fastenal (FAST) were the laggards.

Short hits from the markets -- New York close
			Wed.			Tues.			Month chg.			YTD chg.
Treasury yields
13-week Treasury bill			0.1000%			0.100%			11.11%			900.00%
5-year Treasury note			0.620%			0.622%			4.03%			-25.30%
10-year Treasury note			1.594%			1.581%			2.05%			-14.80%
30-year Treasury bond			2.705%			2.689%			0.78%			-6.37%
Currencies
U.S. Dollar Index			81.235			81.316			0.02%			0.89%
British pound			1.5911			1.5881			0.14%			2.40%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. $ in pounds			£0.629			£0.630			-0.14%			-2.35%
Euro in dollars			$1.26			$1.26			0.01%			-2.77%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. $ in euros			€ 0.794			€ 0.795			-0.01%			2.85%
U.S. $ in yen			78.55			78.43			0.08%			1.89%
U.S. $ in Chinese			6.37			6.34			0.11%			0.71%
yuan
Canada dollar			$1.010			$1.015			-0.43%			2.94%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. dollar			$0.991			$0.986			0.44%			-2.85%
(in Canadian $)
Commodities
Gold (-GC)			$1,694.00			$1,696.00			0.38%			8.12%
(per troy ounce)
Copper (-HG)			$3.529			$3.469			2.08%			2.71%
(per pound)
Silver (-SI)			$32.329			$32.4110			2.82%			15.81%
(per troy ounce)
Wheat (-ZW)			$8.6775			$8.8875			-2.45%			32.94%
(per bushel)
Corn (-ZC)			$7.9075			$8.050			-1.13%			22.31%
(per bushel)
Cotton			$0.7535			0.7568			-2.47%			-17.81%
(per pound)
Coffee			$1.6060			1.653			-2.52%			-30.07%
(per pound)
Crude oil (-CL)			$95.36			$95.30			-1.15%			-3.51%
(per barrel)