On Friday, the markets sunk to close in the red as financial stocks plunged following the court's ruling of two foreclosures as invalid. Disappointing jobs growth data also added to the concern of the nervy investors and led the indices down.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.19% and closed at 11,674.76. The S&P 500 was down 0.18% and closed at 1,271.50. The Nasdaq slipped 0.25% and ended the day at 2,703.17. On the New York Stock Exchange, breadth of the market was on the negative side as for every 1,661 stocks that declined, 1,303 stocks ended in green on light volumes.
The Massachusetts State Supreme Judicial Court advocated that two foreclosures from Wells Fargo WFC and US Bancorp USB were invalid. The decision went against them as, both the banks failed to disclose that they held mortgages at the time of foreclosures. Wells Fargo dropped 2% and closed at $31.50 and US Bancorp closed at $25.09 after shedding 0.8%.
Disappointing jobs data also marred the day as Labor Department's report fell short of consensus expectations. The report showed a 103,000 rise in non-farm payrolls in December, but it is far below the expectations for a rise of 150,000. The increase also seems minimal in face of the Automatic Data Processing's (ADP) National Employment Report, released last Wednesday, which reported a rise of 297,000 in private sector jobs. However, taking some optimism out of the report, the unemployment rate dropped to 9.4% from 9.8% in November and this is the lowest rate since May 2009.
On a sectoral basis, casino stocks ended in green. The casino stocks jumped after MGM's CEO commented that the business in the hotels, conventions and gaming are returning. MGM Resorts International MGM soared 7.4% and closed at $16.35. Other casino stocks to rise were Wynn Resorts WYNN which rose 3.5% and closed the day at $118.73. Shares of Las Vegas Sand Corp. LVS jumped 4.7% and ended the day at $49.89.
Stocks that outperformed the market on positive rating revisions included Diamond Offshore DO which jumped 4.9% after Goldman Sachs GS upgraded the company to its conviction buy list. Baker Hughes BHI also rose 3.2% after it received an upgradation in rating from Goldman Sachs.
BAKER-HUGHES (BHI): Free Stock Analysis Report
DIAMOND OFFSHOR (DO): Free Stock Analysis Report
GOLDMAN SACHS (GS): Free Stock Analysis Report
LAS VEGAS SANDS (LVS): Free Stock Analysis Report
MGM RESORTS INT (MGM): Free Stock Analysis Report
US BANCORP (USB): Free Stock Analysis Report
WELLS FARGO-NEW (WFC): Free Stock Analysis Report
WYNN RESRTS LTD (WYNN): Free Stock Analysis Report
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