Yahoo’s Strong Earnings and Chevron’s Legal Troubles: Market Recap

The markets were mixed. The S&P 500 closed just a fraction above 1,500, weighed down by housing data that showed that pending home sales declined in December. On the other end of the spectrum, durable goods orders rose 4.6 percent for December, following just a 0.7 percent gain in November.

At the close: DJIA: -0.10%, S&P 500: -0.18%, NASDAQ: +0.15%.

On the commodities front, Oil (NYSE:USO) climbed 0.69 percent to $96.54 per barrel. Precious metals dropped, with Gold (NYSE:GLD) falling 0.13 percent to $1,656.60 per ounce, and Silver (NYSE:SLV) falling 1.04 percent to $30.88 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year T-bill climbed 0.013 points to 1.962 percent.

Here’s your Cheat Sheet to today’s top stock stories:

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) climbed 1.96 percent after its fourth-quarter earnings came in stronger than expected. Net income dropped 55 percent year over year to $697 million, or $1.91 per diluted share, while revenue decreased 6.7 percent to $16.08 billion… (Read more.)

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) reported fiscal second-quarter results that came in ahead of expectations but still had the stock off slightly in after-hours trading. The company reported net income of $1.38 per share, ahead of expectations for $1.28 per share, and a 7.1 percent decline year over year. Revenue climbed to $3.7 billion, beating expectations for $3.58 billion.

Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) climbed nearly 4 percent in after-hours trading after releasing fourth-quarter results that beat expectations. Net income dropped 4.25 percent to $283 million, or $0.32 per share, ahead of expectations for $0.28 per share. Revenue of $1.22 billion came in just ahead of estimates for $1.21 billion… (Read more.)