AT&T forecast disappoints

DECENT earnings news from some companies in the technology and telecommunications sectors distracted investors from AT&T’s disappointing results and forecast and left the broader stock market mostly in positive territory.

Around 1:30 pm yesterday ET the Nasdaq composite, up 20.80 to 1380.28, gained more than 1 percent, the S&P 500 index, up 6.44 to 884.80, added a little less than one percent and the Dow Jones industrial average up 18.92 to 8337.65, moved closer to the break-even point, after trading much lower throughout most of the morning.

Close to 70 members of the Standard & Poor's 500 revealed their results either after the bell Wednesday or so far yesterday. But the ones that drew the most interest were Dow component AT&T - which disappointed in both its last quarter and its outlook for the future - and the telecom and software issues on the Nasdaq, which mostly topped estimates.