Investors' were hesitant to take positions on Friday, as U.S.
lawmakers continued with "fiscal cliff" negotiations, leaving the
markets end on a flat note. The S&P 500 rose for five months
in the last six months. Meanwhile, personal spending declined for
the first time in October in five months. The consumer staples
sector was the biggest gainer among the S&P 500 industry
groups.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 0.03% to close the
day at 13,025.58. The Standard & Poor 500 (S&P 500) added
0.02% to finish Friday's trading session at 1,416.18. The
tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 0.06% to end at
3,010.24. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) jumped 5.4%
to settle at 15.87. Consolidated volumes on the New York Stock
Exchange, American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq were roughly 7.0
billion shares, higher than the daily average of 6.48 billion
shares. Advancing stocks outpaced decliners on the NYSE; as for
53% stocks that rose, 43% stocks moved lower.
For the week, the Dow gained 0.1%, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% and
the Nasdaq surged 1.5%. During the last two weeks, markets have
been moving on either side, following developments regarding the
ongoing negotiations on the fiscal cliff issue. The Street was
boosted by positive economic reports related to the jobs market,
GDP and the housing sector.
President Barack Obama held a series of meetings last week to
discuss the fiscal cliff dilemma. On Friday, President Obama
blamed Republican leaders for obstructing the fiscal cliff deal.
He also said: "It's not acceptable to me and I don't think it's
acceptable to you for just a handful of Republicans in Congress
to hold middle-class tax cuts hostage simply because they don't
want tax rates on upper income folks to go up". Speaker of the
United States House of Representatives John Boehner said: "There
is a stalemate; let's not kid ourselves". The fiscal cliff of
$600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts will take effect
from the beginning of 2013 if Congress fails to strike a deal
Meanwhile, personal spending declined 0.2% in October according
to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This was wider than the
consensus estimate of a gain of 0.1%. According to the report,
personal income surged less than 0.1%, whereas disposable
personal income also added less than 0.1% in October. Personal
consumption expenditures declined 0.2% billion in October.
Consumer spending declined for the first time in five months.
According to the report, Hurricane Sandy affected personal
spending in October.
In contrast, the Chicago business barometer increased to 50.4 in
November from October reading of 49.9. This was below consensus
estimate of 50.9. According to the report, the Chicago business
barometer was lifted by production, employment and supplier
deliveries. The Chicago business barometer moved above 50 after
remaining in the contraction zone for two consecutive months.
The Consumer Staples Select Sect. SPDR (XLP) gained 0.4% and was
the major gainer among the S&P 500 industry groups. Stocks
such as The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:
PG
), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:
WMT
), Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:
CHD
), The Clorox Company (NYSE:
CLX
) and Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ:
MNST
) gained 0.5%, 1.7%, 0.3%, 1.4% and 0.7%, respectively.
CHURCH & DWIGHT (CHD): Free Stock Analysis
Report
CLOROX CO (CLX): Free Stock Analysis Report
MONSTER BEVERAG (MNST): Free Stock Analysis
Report
PROCTER & GAMBL (PG): Free Stock Analysis
Report
WAL-MART STORES (WMT): Free Stock Analysis
Report
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