Reuters reports that rival Dow Jones Newswires issued a correction on Wednesday after it ran a story stating that General Electric Co. CEO Jeffrey Immelt had given earnings guidence for 2009 that caused its stock price to fall.
Reuters writes, “The news service said Immelt had been speaking hypothetically when he told a business group in Spain that he would ask his managers to maintain profits even if revenues at their businesses fell as much as 10pc to 15pc.
“‘There was no forecast, no guidance given here,’ GE spokesman Russell Wilkerson said. The U.S. conglomerate plans to issue its 2009 profit forecast in December.
“The report, which hit the news wire in the final 20 minutes of regular trading, hit GE shares. The shares dropped 4 percentage points at the end of the trading day, to end down 1.5pc at $19.20 on the New York Stock Exchange.
“The stock rebounded to $19.42 in after-hours trading following GE’s statement and the correction from Dow Jones.”
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