Weekly Loss of 2.1% in S&P 500 and 2.9% in Nasdaq

Bikram Pandey
04 May, 2012
New York City

In New York trading on Friday, indexes accelerated declines in the afternoon and closed down between 1% and 2%. For the week, the Nasdaq fell nearly 3% and the S&P 500 index declined 2.1%. Crude oil traded below $100 a barrel for the first time in three months.

[R]4:05 PM New York – In New York trading on Friday, indexes accelerated declines in the afternoon and closed down between 1% and 2%. For the week, the Nasdaq fell nearly 3% and the S&P 500 index declined 2.1%. Crude oil traded below $100 a barrel for the first time in three months.[/R]

U.S. indexes fell after businesses added fewer than expected jobs in April as the weather played a key role in altering hiring pattern and the unemployment rate declined.

The broader indexes in the U.S. declined for the second week and the S&P 500 index extended losses for the second week by 2.1% and the Nasdaq dropped 2.9% after a week of trading.

In merger news, Affymetrix and eBioscience amended merger agreement. LinkedIn agreed to acquire SlideShare for $118.75 million.

American International Group first quarter net surged 147% to $3.2 billion. Duke Energy first quarter net tumbled 42% to $295 million and Exelon plunged 70% to $200 million. Spectra Energy first quarter net soared 35% to $541 million and AES rose 7% to $515 million.

The European indexes edged lower ahead of regional elections this weekend and weaker-than-estimated service sector growth. Mixed earnings did not lift investor sentiment either despite Linde and BNP Paribas reporting better than expected results.

Euro area retail sales rebounded in March but service sector activity disappointed in April with a contraction in the France and Spain. Spanish jobless rate declined in April.

The UK indexes slumped after home prices dropped more than estimated and new car registrations rose in April. Irish output fell for the second straight month in March. Warner Chilcott swung to quarterly profit.

Reserve Bank of Australia trimmed growth and inflation expectations for the year and said growth in the mining sector were offset by the weakness in hospitality, retail and manufacturing. Australian government is set to target budget surplus in its latest budget on May 8.

Commodities, Bonds and Currencies

The yields on 10-year U.S. bond decreased to 1.88% and 30-year U.S. bond edged lower to 3.07%.

The U.S. dollar edged lower to $1.304 to one euro and inched lower against the Japanese yen to 79.88 yen.

Immediate delivery futures of Texas crude oil decreased $4.05 to $98.49 a barrel and Brent crude futures fell $2.86 to $113.22.

In New York trading, futures of natural gas decreased 0.05 cents to $2.25 per mbtu and gasoline price fell 7.52 cents to 297.45 cents a gallon.

In metals trading, copper fell 1.8 cents to $3.71 per pound, gold rose $9.30 to $1,644.10 per ounce and silver increased 36 cent to $30.37.