The results of Standard & Poor’s Index Services are going to be not positive in the third quarter of this year according to preliminary figures. But For energy sector S&P 500’s operating earnings could gain the lowest ever in history results.
S&P 500 declined 21.6% over the third quarter of 2007 marking the fifth consecutive quarter of negative earnings growth for the world’s most followed stock market index.
With 94% of the data in, third quarter operating earnings for the S&P 500 are preliminarily set at $16.36 per share compared to $20.87 for the third quarter of 2007. For the fifth consecutive quarter, S&P 500 As Reported earnings also posted a decline, falling 35.7% to $9.74 per share from the $15.15 per share posted during the third quarter of 2007.
S&P 500 operating earnings for the third quarter were set at $142.8 billion (versus $184.1 billion for Q3 2007), and As Reported earnings were set at $85.0 billion (versus 133.7 billion in Q3 2007) in terms of aggregate dollars.
The Energy sector played the role of hero during the third quarter, contributing 40.4% of the S&P 500’s operating earnings — up from 16.2% a year ago, says Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst, Standard & Poor’s. Without Energy, the third quarter operating earnings for the S&P 500 would have hit an all-time low.L.D.