Techs, Retailers Drag Markets Lower

123jump.com Staff
29 Aug, 2008
New York City

The latest report on personal spending suggested a declining trend and a weak earnings from Dell dragged tech and retail stocks lower. Starbucks, Whole Foods, Darden Restaurants, Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart fell. Dell, Research in Motion, Intel, Apple and IBM fell as Nasdaq dropped more than 1.7%. Latin American markets closed lower across the region. European markets closed higher after Commerzbank may buy Dresdner Bank for 9 billion euros.

4:00PM New York, 10:00PM Frankfurt, 6:00AM Sydney[R]– Falling personal spending and rising expenditure index in the U.S. affected trading sentiment. U.S> indexes fell more than 1%. Latin American markets closed lower but markets in Europe close higher.[/R]

Global Markets Update

U.S. stocks fell after weaker than expected data on personal consumption and expenditure. Crude oil gained as tropical storm brewed in the Gulf of Mexico. A decline in earnings from Dell suggested a slower spending in the U.S. and earl signs of similar trends in Europe and Asia. Consumer spending in July rose 0.2% after rising at 0.6% in June according to the latest data from the Commerce Department. Personal income dropped 0.7% after rising 0.1% in June and 1.8% in May.

The Statistics Bureau in Japan reported on its Web site today that the consumer price index in Japan rose 0.2% from the previous month and gained 2.3% from a year earlier. In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 index rose 2.4% today and added 3.2% for the week and dropped 2.3% for the month, and the broader Topix Index rose 2.9% in the session. Industrial production rose 0.9% in July after it fell 2.2% in June. Nisshinbo Industries led advancers in the Nikkei 225 index shares with a rise of 10.47%.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 169.34 or 1.6% to a close of 11,545.51, S&P 500 Index closed down 17.82 or 1.20% to 1,282.83, and Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 44.12 or 1.7% to close at 2,367.52. In Toronto TSX Composite closed down 26.32 or 0.19% to 13,724.16.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average 2 stocks gained, 28 declined and none was unchanged.

Intel Corp led decliners in Dow Jones Industrial Average with a loss of 2.54% followed by losses in General Motors of 2.2%, in IBM of 1.95% and in Merck & Company of 1.92% and in Caterpillar Inc of 1.45%.

Citigroup Inc led gainers in Dow Jones Industrial Average with a rise of 0.10% followed by gains in AIG of 0.07% and in Walt Disney of 0.06%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 119 increased, 379 declined and 2 were unchanged. Of the index stocks, 16 rose more than 3% and 15 fell more than 3%.

MGIC Investment Corp led the gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 6.8% followed by gains in Novell Inc of 6.5%, in Liz Claiborne of 6.47%, in Regions Financial of 5.16%, in Sunoco Inc of 5.02% and in Wamu Inc of 4.65%.

Freddie Mac led decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 13.26% followed by losses in Dell Inc of 13.21%, in Fannie Mae of 13.08%, in LSI Corp of 5.4%, in Autodesk Inc of 4.95%, in KLA Tencor Corp of 4.50% and in SanDisk Corp of 4.22%.

South American Markets Indexes

Colombia was the lone gainer in the region with a rise of 1.5%.

Brazil led decliners in the region with a fall of 0.9% followed by decreases in Mexico of 0.65%, in Venezuela of 0.35%, in Argentina of 0.31%, in Chile of 0.25% and in Peru of 0.03%.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 35.40 or 0.63% to 5,636.60, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 21.11 or 0.47% to close at 4,482.60 and in Frankfurt DAX index higher 1.78 or 0.03% to close at 6,422.30. In Zurich trading SMI increased 48.34 or 0.67% to close at 7,238.74.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 304.62 or 2.39% to 13,072.87, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 289.60 or 1.38% closed to 21,261.89.ASX 200 index in Australia increased 69.10 or 1.36% to close 5,135.60. The KL Composite index in Malaysia increased 30.40 or 2.81% closed to 1,100.50.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 0.09 or 0.01% to close at 1,474.24, SET index in Thailand closed higher 1.61 or 0.24% to 684.44 and JSE Index in Indonesia increased 21.10 or 0.98% to 2,165.94. The Sensex index in India increased 516.19 or 3.67% closed to 14,564.53.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil increased $0.41 to close at $116.00 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas closed down 1 cent to $8.04 per mBtu and gasoline futures decreased 2.64 cents to close at 299.50 cents per gallon.

Gold decreased $0.60 in New York trading to close at $836.60 per ounce, silver closed down $0.01 cents to $13.69 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery decreased 2.30 cent to $3.37 per pound.

Wheat futures closed down 12.00 cents in Chicago trading and closed at $7.99 a bushel. Sugar decreased 0.46 cent to 12.77 cents a pound. Soybean future closed up 1.00 cents to $13.25 a bushel.

Dollar edged higher and traded near record low against euro to $1.4672 and edged lower against yen to 108.81.

Yields on U.S. bonds increased to 3.81% with 10 years of maturities and decreased to 4.42% with 30-year of maturities.