Stock Market News for December 18, 2009 - Market News
U.S. stocks closed sharply lower Thursday as a tepid forecast from bellwether FedEx and Citigroup’s decision to sell stocks at a steep discount hurt investor confidence. As risk aversion gained ground, dollar jumped to a three month high against the euro and ended slightly higher against the yen. Investors looking for concrete signs of an economic rebound found little to cheer the Federal Reserve’s cautious forecast yesterday.
The Dow Jones industry average fell 132.86 points, or 1.3%, to 10,308.26 and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index retreated 13.10 points, or 1.2%, to 1,096.08. The Nasdaq composite index was down 26.89 points, or 1.2%, to 2,180.05. Bond prices jumped, pushing yields lower. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.48 percent from 3.60 percent late Wednesday. On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues were ahead of the advancers almost three to one. As market participation picked up yesterday, volume jumped to 1.7 billion shares.
This morning’s stock futures are indicating a higher opening on Wall Street following better than expected earnings from technology companies. Dow Jones industrial average futures are up 35 points, or 0.3%, at 10,368. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures are up 4.5 points, or 0.4%, at 1,098.70, while Nasdaq 100 index futures are up 5.25 points, or 0.3%, at 1,790.75.
On the DJIA, all but two components finished in the red, led by a 2.8% fall in Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and a 2.6% drop in JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM). Financials were the leading laggards among the S&P500 sectors, retreating 1.5%. Weak demand for Citigroup's (NYSE:C) $5.4 billion common share offering and the Treasury's subsequent delay of its offering plans also added to the sector’s weakness. Financials further lost ground following news that banking analyst Meredith Whitney had lowered earnings estimates for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).
All S&P500 industry sectors fell on the session. The Vix volatility measure jumped 9.6% to 22.51. Crude prices advanced $1.97 to $72.66, while gold prices jumped $13.20 to $1,136.20.
Basic material shares fell 2.4% following the strength in greenback. Shares in Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) plunged 6.1% and Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold (NYSE:FCX) dropped 4.4%. Greece's credit rating suffered another setback yesterday, as S&P lowered its rating.
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