US Markets Shed Gains For The Second Consecutive Day (AMZN, CBS, NEM, ABX)

US stocks opened slightly higher this morning after a report pointed towards a recovery in manufacturing in the Chicago region. However, stocks started struggling by mid day, falling from the 2009 highs achieved over the past couple of days. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NASDAQ: INDU) lost 11.03 points to 10534.38, the NASDAQ Composite (NASDAQ: COMP) shed 2.99 points to 2285.41. Meanwhile, S&P 500 (NYSE: SPX) lost 2.27 points to 1123.93.

This major decline across the indexes was prompted by investors speculating on the possible withdrawal of stimulus measures by the Fed after an improvement in the economy. The strengthening US dollar and end-of-the-year wariness on the part of investors also seemed to place pressure on the market. With this decline, all the three major indexes continued showing weakness for a second consecutive day.

The strengthening US dollar placed pressure on shares of companies that conduct substantial business overseas. Consumer-discretionary companies, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) and CBS Corp (NYSE: CBS), led the decline among the ten groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Meanwhile, Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE: ABX) and Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE: NEM) retreated due to gold prices being impacted by the US dollar.

As expected, the markets saw low action, with volumes being extremely low yesterday and today.