Afternoon Markets: Dow drops on poor profit reports

US stocks traded lower in New York this morning as a number of disappointing trading statements curbed recent investor appetite.

The main Dow Jones Industrial Average was trailing 10.9 points lower (0.1%) at 9082.3 in opening exchanges, while the technology-dominated Nasdaq was also down. The biggest loser was Home Depot, down almost 2% to $24.9, followed by telecoms group Verizon Communications, which reported a fall in quarterly profits as a result of its poor performing landline business. Bucking the trend, mining group Alcoa added 2.3% on the back of a rise in metal prices, including aluminium, copper and nickel. In London, the FTSE 100 lost its earlier momentum and trailed down 0.1% at 4572.1. Publi...