U.S. stocks tumbled to their lowest close in nearly a month on Thursday as the latest batch of data amplified concerns the economy is stuck in neutral.
"I'm bearish on the economy, I'm bearish on the market at the moment," said Kenneth Polcari, NYSE floor trader and managing director at Icap Corporates. "The macro data for the last month-and-a-half has been nothing but negative."
A report showing factory activity in the mid-Atlantic states contracted in August for the first time since July 2009 blind-sided investors, who had been expecting activity to increase. Earlier, the Labor Department said first-time claims for jobless benefits rose to a nine-month high.
Polcari noted that volume was low and pointed to a lack of participation by institutional fund managers, who he said were on the sidelines due to uncertainty about the economy. Volume on the NYSE Arca, Nasdaq and American Stock Exchanges was 7.97 billion, compared to last year's daily average of 9.65 billion.
U.S. Treasuries prices rose as investors moved out of riskier assets into safe-haven government debt, with the yield on the two-year Treasury note falling to a record low.
In the currency markets investors flocked to safe havens, such as the U.S. dollar, yen and Swiss franc. Gold rose for a sixth day.
"Even the most optimistic people have to concede the economy at the very least has paused," said Bill Strazullo, partner and chief investment strategist at Bell Curve Trading in Boston.
The S&P 500 index fell back well below its 50-day moving average, a worrying development for investors after the index appeared to move up into a range between that level and its 200-day moving average over the last few days. The index posted its lowest close since July 21.
Even a bout of substantial M&A activity, which typically boosts Wall Street's mood, failed to stem the losses
| Index Value: | 10,271.21 |
| Trade Time: | 4:05PM EDT |
| Change: |  144.33 (1.39%) |
| Prev Close: | 10,415.54 |
| Open: | 10,411.15 |
| Day's Range: | 10,216.19 - 10,411.15 |
| 52wk Range: | 9,223.08 - 11,309.00 |
Daily chart having 6 months periods
.png)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please remember...your comment should not contain nudity or vulger language in addition to advertisement of your blog/site or any product ...and should not hurt the readers emotions...if that will be case it will be removed on first review of admin staff... Regards