Stock Market News for February 23, 2010 - Market News
U.S. stocks ended an erratic session lower as investors made cautious moves after a four-day long rally. Schlumberger’s announcement that it will acquire rival Smith International failed to lift the markets as big consumer companies came out with tepid outlook.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 18.97 points, or 0.2%, to 10,383.38. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 1.16 points, or 0.1%, to 1,108.01, while the NASDAQ composite index fell 1.84 points, or 0.1%, to 2,242.03. The US dollar weakened on assumptions that borrowing costs will continue to remain low.
Shares of healthcare providers rose as President Obama presented his $1 trillion plan for healthcare reform. The 10-year plan is expected to cover more than 31 million Americans who are currently not insured. Humana (NYSE:HUM) rose 5.6%, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) advanced 3.6%, and Aetna (NYSE:AET) added 1.5%.
Chevron (NYSE:CVX) led the decliners on the DJIA, down 1.5%, while ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) slid 0.7% as workers at Exxon's French refineries threatened to join striking Total SA (NYSE:TOT) workers. Crude prices jumped to their highest level since January 12 as news of the strike aggravated supply fears.
Financials, however, showed strength as traders took in stride the likelihood of the Fed beginning to drain liquidity from the system. Shares from the sector were the only gainers among the ten S&P 500 industry groups. Those leading the decliners included oil and gas shares (-1.3%), followed by utilities (-0.5%) tech and basic materials (-0.3%), consumer goods, and telecommunications (-0.2%), health care and consumer services (-0.1%) and industrials (-0.02%).
After the market closed Monday, department store retailer Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) reported weak quarterly earnings but revenues topped expectations. However, this morning Home Depot (NYSE:HD) came out with better-than-expected earnings, and the company raised its dividend payment; home improvement firm Lowe's (NYSE:LOW) also reported estimate-beating numbers yesterday. Sears Holdings (NYSE:SHLD) also topped expectations.
According to San Francisco Fed president Yellen, US economic growth will remain below potential this year and next, necessitating a lower interest rate regime. Banks advanced on the news, with both Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) rising 2.1%.
Today's calendar contains the next leg of the record, $126 billion Treasury auctions, with $44 billion 2-year notes slated for sale today. Yesterday's $8 billion in 30-year Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS) drew a disappointing yield of 2.229%.
Retail numbers are likely to provide a look at consumer sentiment. Retailers reporting their numbers include Home Depot, Macy's (NYSE:M), Office Depot, Sears Holdings (NYSE:SHLD), and Target (NYSE:TGT) are due.
The preceding article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
