MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks End Lower For Second Day, Pressured By Financials
Wednesday June 4th, 2008 / 23h23
By Kate Gibson U.S. stocks on Tuesday fell for a second day, with woes from the credit crisis resurfacing as Lehman Brothers said it might need to raise more capital. "Financials and energy are both selling off in the same day with no real positive catalyst for technology," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co. Energy and material stocks also weighed on the market, as crude oil and commodities fell sharply, as the dollar bounced firmly higher. . In a speech to international bankers, Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke signaled discomfort with the weak U.S. dollar, suggesting possible action by the Fed to support the weak greenback. . "It had a big impact on the currencies markets, because he [Bernanke] spoke more about the dollar than in all of his previous speeches combined," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average staged a triple-digit drop, recovering a bit to close at 12,402.85, down 100.97 points, or 0.8%. Of the Dow's 30 components, 20 posted losses, with Boeing Co. fronting blue-chip decliners, its stock down 3.7%. General Motors Corp. , gained 0.8% after the auto maker reported a 27.5% drop in May U.S. light vehicle sales and detailed plans to shift the auto maker's focus more toward cars and crossovers by closing four truck plants. . Also among the Dow stocks, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. gained 1% after the world's largest retailer drew an upgrade to outperform from Morgan Keegan analyst John Lawrence. Financial woes return Shares of Lehman fell 9.5% in the wake of a Wall Street Journal report that the investment firm faces its first quarterly loss since going public in 1994, and also may be compelled to sell up to $4 billion in common stock to raise capital. . During the session, the investment bank denied a rumor that it was trying to access the Fed's discount window to shore up capital. Sectors part ways Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index fell 8.02 points, or 0.6%, to 1,377.65, with energy pacing the losses among the index's 10 industry groups, down 1.3%. "People are selling financials and buying technology. It's kind of bizarre. People are buying into this belief in technology in the face of a still-challenging business environment for a lot of them, considering their biggest customers are banks," said Boockvar. The health care and consumer discretionary sectors proved the only two on the rise on the S&P, up 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 11.05 points, or 0.4%, to 2,480.48. Volume surpassed 1.3 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange, with decliners topping advancers 3 to 2. On the Nasdaq, more than 945 million shares changed hands, as declining stocks outpaced those advancing, 4 to 3. Helping offset the developments at Lehman, Toll Brothers Inc. reported a smaller second-quarter loss than forecast. Shares of the luxury home builder added more than 3.1%. On Monday, U.S. equities ended sharply lower, breaking a four-session win streak, with the Dow industrials falling by triple digits after Standard & Poor's cut its ratings on three large brokerages. In Tuesday's commodities action, crude futures fell $3.45 to end at $124.31 a barrel, its lowest closing level since May 15 , while August gold dropped $11.5, or 1.3%, to close at $885.5 an ounce. . Regular-unleaded gasoline prices held steady at the record price of $3.98 a gallon, according to the Daily Fuel Gauge Report by AAA. On the economic data front, the Commerce Department reported orders for U.S.-made factory goods climbed 1.1% in April, with the results proving better than anticipated.
State Street Global Advisors (15,30%), Capital Research and Management (14,20%), Brandes Investment Partners (11,00%), Tracinda Corporation (9,90%), ...
