Stocks ended a thinly traded session mostly flat on Tuesday as investors paused after last week's surge, though continually light volume suggested the market could encounter more choppy trading.
The Nasdaq closed higher for its sixth straight day, helped by strength in Netflix, while the Dow and the S&P 500 ended five-day streaks that marked the best week for equities in two years.
The S&P gained 5.6 percent last week, rebounding from weakness over the past two months, but concerns about economic growth and the U.S. debt ceiling could temper gains in coming days.
"It's no real surprise that the market is having a harder time today getting excited, given the big week we just had," said Hayes Miller, the Boston-based head of asset allocation in North America at Baring Asset Management, which oversees about $50.6 billion.
In another prospective headwind, Moody's Investors Service slashed Portugal's credit rating into junk territory on risks the country will need another bailout before it can return to capital markets. It keeps the euro zone's debt woes at the forefront even as investors were hopeful for a resolution to Greece's fiscal crisis.
Equities dipped only slightly on the news, which Luke Rahbari, partner at the Chicago-based Stutland Volatility Group, said had been expected.
"This is more symbolic," he said, though he added that "in the short term, everything will be pressured ... everyone wants to get out of every asset class except cash and reassess after we get more clarity."
The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI:^DJI - News) was down 12.90 points, or 0.10 percent, at 12,569.87. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - News) was down 1.79 points, or 0.13 percent, at 1,337.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index (Nasdaq:^IXIC - News) was up 9.74 points, or 0.35 percent, at 2,825.77.
The day's volume was light, with only 6.04 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, below last year's daily average of 8.47 billion. The trend was seen as enduring and the anemic action could exacerbate stocks' gyrations in the holiday-shortened week, especially with Friday's non-farm payroll report expected to show tepid job creation in June. Markets were closed on Monday for the U.S. Independence Day holiday.
"Markets are in a highly volatile state right now, making this a difficult market to make a lot of progress in," Miller said. "We're going to go back and forth with strong weeks like last week and weak ones like what we had before that."
Last week, moves to avert a debt crisis in Europe and surprisingly strong regional business data helped lift some of the gloom on Wall Street.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
(DJI: ^DJI )| Index Value: | 12,569.87 |
|---|---|
| Trade Time: | 4:04PM EDT |
| Change: |  12.90 (0.10%) |
| Prev Close: | 12,582.77 |
|---|---|
| Open: | 12,583.00 |
| Day's Range: | 12,540.58 -12,601.80 |
| 52wk Range: | 9,648.26 -12,928.50 |
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