MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Lower As Car Sales Expected To Slide
2009年1月6日 - 2:03AM
Dow Jones News
By Kate Gibson
U.S. stocks fell on Monday, breaking a three-day run of gains,
ahead of data expected to illustrate declining car sales and as
investors contended with underlying anxiety before Friday's jobs
report.
"Friday's jobs report should show non-farm payrolls down 550,000
and the rate above 7%," said Tom di Galoma, managing director of
U.S. bond trading at Jefferies & Co. Inc.
After closing at an eight-week high Friday, the Dow Jones
Industrial Average (DJI) was down 52.88 points to 8,981.81.
Two-thirds of the Dow's 30 components traded in the red, with
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) fronting the declines, its shares
lately off 6.5% in the wake of its downgrade by Bernstein
Research.
Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) also slumped, down
3.8% after Deutsche Bank cut its estimates on the bank. .
The S&P 500 (SPX) shed 1.42 points to 930.38, with
telecommunication services, health care and financials the leading
laggard sectors among the index's 10 industry groups.
Among the S&P's gaining sectors, energy proved the most
robust, led by Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) and Consol Energy Inc.
(CNX), both up more than 9%.
The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) declined 6.21 points to 1,626.00,
with tech stocks dipping even as Apple Inc. shares rose after CEO
Steve Jobs acknowledged health problems but said he would stay on
as the company's chief executive. .
Shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) gained 3.3% after Jobs said he is
undergoing treatment for a hormone imbalance that has caused him to
lose weight. Jobs made his comments in an open letter to the Apple
community. .
On Capitol Hill, President-elect Barack Obama plans to meet
Monday with congressional leaders of both parties as he tries to
shore up support for his economic-stimulus package and about $300
billion in tax cuts. .
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange neared 389 million, and
advancing issues overtook those declining nearly 3 to 2. On the
Nasdaq, nearly 224 million shares traded, and decliners edged just
ahead of advancers.
Driven
End-of-the-year results from the auto industry were likely to be
grim, with car-buying research Web site Edmunds.com looking for
Chrysler to tally a 46% sales drop last month, while predicting
General Motors Corp. (GM) and Ford Motor Co. will fall 39% and 34%,
respectively.
Less grim than anticipated, the Commerce Department reported
construction spending fell 0.6% in November.
J.P. Morgan raised its rating on Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) to
overweight from neutral. Shares of the online retailer were off
0.9%.
Oil futures gained more than 2% in early trade, with the
contract for February delivery up 89 cents to $47.23 a barrel.
The dollar index (DXY), a measure of the greenback against rival
currencies, held steady at 82.85. .
Treasury prices mostly advanced after the Federal Reserve said
it had begun buying mortgage-backed securities. .
Overseas, Asian markets shot higher, with Japanese stocks taking
the lead.
European shares also gained, with telecom, utility and oil
equities among the strongest performers. .
Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front
page of today's most important business and market news, analysis
and commentary. You can use this link on the day this article is
published and the following day.