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| 10 April 2005 | Sunday | 30 Safar 1426 |
US stocks close lower
Bonds rose with the benchmark 10-year notes adding 2/32 in price for a yield of 4.48 per cent, versus 4.59 per cent on Thursday, having briefly traded above 4.52 per cent before falling.
The dollar fell against major peers, but gold shifted higher.
During the regular session, General Motors ended down $1.03 to $29.50 — making it the Dow’s biggest percentage loser. Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to “sell” from “hold.”
After the closing bell, Ford Motor Co. cut its 2005 earnings forecast. Shares were halted after the bell, but during regular trading, it fell 2 per cent, or 27 cents to $11.03.
American International Group Inc. weighed on the Dow, losing 2 per cent to $51.73, as pressure builds from multiple investigations facing the huge insurance company. Authorities will interview AIG’s former chairman and CEO Hank Greenberg next week.
The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 84.98 points, or 0.81 per cent, at 10,461.34. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 9.94 points, or 0.83 per cent, at 1,181.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 19.44 points, or 0.96 per cent, at 1,999.35.
Despite the sell-off, for the week, the Dow was up 0.55 per cent, S&P 500 advanced 0.70 per cent and Nasdaq rose 0.73 per cent.
Oil prices extended a five-day slide, bringing this week’s declines to about 9 per cent, as swelling US crude stockpiles triggered speculative selling.
US light crude settled down 79 cents to $53.32 a barrel, adding to losses since the price struck a record on Monday at $58.28. London’s Brent crude was down $1.15 at $52.89 a barrel.
Lower crude hurt oil companies. Exxon Mobil Corp. fell 84 cents at $60.01 and ChevronTexaco Corp. dropped $1.23 to $56.69.
The sell-off in oil is causing energy stocks to be particularly weak and that’s adding some pressure, said Larry Peruzzi, senior equity trader at The Boston Company Asset Management, a Mellon subsidiary. We’re also seeing particular selling in retail stocks after yesterday’s same-store-sales came in very light.
Retailers were weak, with the S&P Retailing index down 1.1 per cent. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. fell 0.7 per cent, or 33 cents, to $48.57, a day after it warned that first-quarter earnings could fall short of its previous forecast.
US Treasury debt prices barely budged in subdued trade as the market dismissed a pullback in oil prices as a temporary correction.
The 30-year bond gained 17/32 to yield 4.77pc, while two-year note yields rose to 3.75pc from 3.73pc.—Reuters
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