A mixed finish for US Market
Stocks at Wall Street ended mixed today, Thursday, 21 August, 2008 with
Nasdaq being the only index ending in the red. Dow and S&P 500
managed to register little gains. Weak dollar and strong crude prices
seemed to be the perfect recipe for a weak market as commodities traded
higher. Nevertheless, US market defied the normal trend today which
also witnessed a plethora of disappointing economic reports. Seven of
the ten sectors ended in the green today led by the energy sector. The
financial sector continued to be the main laggard.
Market
opened the day in the red. But in the final hours of trading, market
managed to reverse their course of direction, though there was no
specific driving force. The Dow Jones industrial Average ended the day
with a gain of 68.88 points at 11,417.43. The Nasdaq Composite Index,
finished higher by 4.72 points at 2,389.08. S&P 500 finished higher
by 7.85 points at 1,274.54.
Seventeen of thirty Dow components
ended in the green today led by Chevron and Exxon Mobil. AIG, Bank of
America, Citigroup and American Express continued to be the main Dow
laggards.
The financial sector continued to be in the doldrums
after Bank of America was named in The Wall Street Journal as being the
focus of increased probes from the New York Attorney General regarding
auction rate securities. Also in the sector, Citigroup trimmed earnings
per share estimates for Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs and Morgan
Stanley.
Among economic news hitting the wires at US today,
initial jobless claims for the week ending 16 August totaled 432,000,
which was below the 440,000 expected. Claims fell 13,000 relative to
the prior week's downwardly revised total. Still, the 4-week moving
average for jobless claims advanced to 445,750 from 438,500.
In
a separate report, the Conference Board in USA reported today that the
leading economic indicators for July dipped 0.7%. The leading index is
designed to forecast turning points in the economy. Market was looking
for a 0.2% decline. The report pointed to slow growth the rest of the
year and possibly an economy grinding to a halt.
Also, the
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported today that the
Philadelphia Fed Index (manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia
region) fell for the ninth month in a row in August. But it improved to
a reading of -12.7 (against an estimate of -12.6) against -16.3 in
July. Readings under zero indicate most firms report weaker conditions.
The index has been below zero for nine straight months.
All
the Indian ADRs ended in the red today. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were
the topmost losers shedding 2.5% and 4.7% respectively.
At the
crude market on Thursday, crude oil rose as much as 6.1% on speculation
that rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia may disrupt supply.
Prices also rose due to the strong dollar. Crude oil for October
delivery rose $5.62 (4.9%) to settle at $121.18 a barrel.
At
the currency markets on Thursday, the U.S. dollar extended its losses
against most major currencies, losing more ground after downbeat U.S.
economic data exacerbated a sell-off linked to rebounding oil prices.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted
basket of currencies, was at 76.06, down from 76.926 in previous
session.
For tomorrow, the day is light in terms of both earnings and economic reports.
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