MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Lower As Car Sales Expected To Slide
January 05 2009 - 10:07AM
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, head of U.S. bond
trading at Jefferies & Co. Inc.
After closing at an eight-week high Friday, the Dow Jones
Industrial Average (DJI) fell 55.51 points to 8,979.18 in early
action.
Two-thirds of the Dow's 30 components traded in the red, with
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) fronting the declines, its shares
lately off 5.3%.
The S&P 500 (SPX) shed 3.85 points to 927.95, with
telecommunication services, health care and financials the leading
laggard sectors among the index's 10 industry groups.
And the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) declined 12.09
points to 1,620.12, with tech stocks dipping even as Apple Inc.
shares rose after the company's CEO acknowledged heath trouble but
said they were not serious enough to give up his job. .
Shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) gained 3.3% after Jobs said he's
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 exceeded 226 million, and
declining issues only slightly outpaced those on the rise. On the
Nasdaq, nearly 138 million shares traded, and decliners topped
advancers 7 to 5.
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 up 1%
Monday morning.
Oil futures gained more than 2% in early trade, with the
contract for February delivery up $1.05, or 2.4%, to 47.39 a
barrel.
The dollar index (DXY), a measure of the greenback against rival
currencies, held steady at 82.65. .
Asian markets shot higher, with Japanese stocks taking the
lead.
European shares also gained, with telecom, utility and oil
equities among the strongest performers. .
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