The Closing Bell, 11/10: Sprint slips amid Clearwire deal, layoff news

Sprint shares lost 19 cents Tuesday and closed at $3.24.

The Overland Park-based company confirmed plans for a major additional investment in its high-speed Internet venture with Clearwire.

On Monday, Sprint announced it would eliminate 2,000 to 2,500 jobs, or six percent of its workforce, to cut costs by about $350 million annually. Most of the job cuts will occur by year-end.

Meanwhile, investors overall cooled their buying of stocks and commodities, pausing from a surge that carried major stock indexes to their highest levels in more than a year.

Stocks ended mixed Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrials tacked on 20 points a day after shooting up 200 points for the second time in three days.

The market again took its direction from the dollar, as it has for months. Stocks drove higher Monday as the dollar weakened and slipped Tuesday as the currency rose.

The Dow swung in a range of about 60 points in light trading as investors increased their buying of safe-haven assets like the dollar and Treasurys. The ICE Futures US dollar index, which measures the dollar against other currencies, edged higher.

“People are reaching for a little less risk today after we’ve had such a run,” said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management.

Record-low interest rates in the U.S. and the resulting slide in the dollar have been major forces behind the surge in stocks in recent months. A weaker dollar allows investors to borrow money cheaply, while the low interest rates also encourage them to hold any assets other than low-yielding cash, such as stocks, commodities and bonds.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average added 20.03 points, or 0.20 percent, and closed at 10,246.97.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index shed 0.07 of a point, or 0.01 percent, and closed at 1,093.01.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 2.98 points, or 0.14 percent, and closed at 2,151.08.

An early reading of the KansasCity.com index of 145 regional companies showed a drop of 0.40 of a point, or 0.06 percent, at 620.11.

Among Kansas City area companies of interest:
I Cerner Corp. closed at $78.97, down 60 cents.

I Capitol Federal Financial closed at $30.72, up 34 cents.

I Commerce Bancshares Inc. closed at $39.80, down 50 cents.

I DST Systems Inc. closed at $43.31, down 33 cents.

I Garmin Ltd. closed at $28.83, up 71 cents.

I Great Plains Energy closed at $17.84, up 6 cents.

I H&R Block Inc. closed at $19.34, down 8 cents.

I Kansas City Southern closed at $28.93, down 2 cents.

I Sprint Nextel Corp. closed at $3.24, down 19 cents.

I UMB Financial Corp. closed at $39.02, down 49 cents.

I Waddell & Reed Financial Corp. closed at $30.75, down 18 cents.

I YRC Worldwide Inc. closed at $1.10, down 8 cents.

The Closing Bell is compiled from staff and wire reports by Steve Rosen. Call him at 816-234-4879 or send e-mail to srosen@kcstar.com. A recap of the day’s markets activity is available in the Business section of The Kansas City Star.