Wall St close up with the best month since October
Best Growth Stock – The stock market on Tuesday closed its best month since October with a slight fall, on weak U.S. economic data that surprised investors after a series of positive indicators in recent months.
Wall Street closed Tuesday its best month since October with a slight fall, on weak U.S. economic data that surprised investors after a series of positive indicators in recent months.
Stocks have rebounded strongly since late last year, partly on hopes that the U.S. economy may avoid the effects of a recession in Europe. But the data tested that theory on Tuesday.
The report showed prices of U.S. homes and businesses in the center of the country did not meet expectations and consumer confidence fell unexpectedly.
However, the market reversed much of the losses that occurred after the publication of the data, a pattern that has marked recent operations and is considered a sign of resistance. The S & P 500 has fallen over four days, but the losses amount to little over 1 percent.
“Once you begin to have some negative numbers, especially around the consumer, it makes for the argument that GDP growth will return to zero,” said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.
Corporate earnings continued to paint a mixed picture.
Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp fell 2 percent to $ 83.74 and were the biggest drag on both the Dow and the S & P 500. The oil company profits exceeded expectations just because falling margins and fuel and chemical production offset lower than expected increases in oil prices.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 20.81 points or 0.16 percent to 12,632.91 points, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.61 points or 0.05 percent, to 1312.40.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.90 points or 0.07 percent, to 2813.84 units.
For the month, the Dow gained 3.4 percent, while the S & P 500 and Nasdaq rose 4.4 percent and 8, respectively.
Robert Sluymer, a technical analyst at RBC Capital in New York, said the interest rates depressed the U.S. and a slowdown in the rise of copper point to a decline in the short term economically sensitive sectors such as materials and banks, which have led the recovery.
“Continued contraction produced new evidence or pause, led by banks, with global growth themes, represented by copper, which begins to take a break resistance in the 200-day moving average,” he wrote in a research note.
“The yields have yet to confirm the rebound pro-risk,” the analyst said.
Quarterly results from drug companies Pfizer Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co exceeded expectations. But Pfizer cut its forecast for 2012 and repeated Lilly prospect of a fall in profits in 2012.
Lilly shares rose 1.2 percent to $ 39.74, and Pfizer fell 0.8 percent to $ 21.40.
The transport sector stocks fell as United Parcel Service Inc ceded early gains and ended down by 0.7 percent, to $ 75.65.
The group package delivery and logistics reported a quarterly profit higher than expected, but analysts cited profit taking and comments regarding the company’s headwinds in the first quarter for the euro crisis.
Category: Business News
