After the European leaders urged Greece to adhere to new
austerity measures in order to receive the next installment of its
bailout package, debt woes returned to the forefront and US markets
dropped a few points. Even though markets receded from t multi-year
highs, benchmarks recouped most of their losses by the end of the
day and settled marginally lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) dropped 0.1% to finish
the day at 12,845.13. The Standard & Poor 500 (S&P 500)
edged down 0.04% and signed off yesterday's trading session
virtually unchanged at 1,344.33. The tech-laden Nasdaq Compoiste
Index was down to 2,901.99, shedding a mere 0.1%. The fear-gauge
CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) gained 3.9% to settle at 17.76.
Consolidated volumes on the New York Stock Exchange, the American
Stock Exchange and Nasdaq were 5.82 billion shares, significantly
lower than last year's daily average of 7.84 billion. On the NYSE,
decliners outnumbered the advancers, with 57% stocks being on the
losing side as against 40% gainers. The remaining 3% of the stocks
were left unchanged.
The day lacked action on the home front. With no major economic
data being released and with not many bellwether companies
reporting results, domestic markets had to struggle for direction.
Meanwhile, news from the other side of the Atlantic was far from
favorable. European leaders, including the French and German
leaders, urged Greece to accept new austerity measures if they
expect to receive the next installment of the bailout package.
Meanwhile, a gathering of the three parties which are backing
Prime Minister Lucas Papademos' interim government, were postponed
by a day. The delay, which reportedly occurred to allow the Greek
leader more time to talk to representatives of the European Union,
International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, was not
well received. Greece needs to receive the $171 billion in order to
avoid a debt default. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "I
can't quite understand why we need a few more days". Greece needs
to accept the measures and they need to decide and get the
necessary done as soon as possible. During a joint briefing with
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel commented: "Time is
running out". Sakozy too voiced his concerns and said: "An
agreement has never been so close, neither for private nor public
creditors…We have to conclude it".
The markets failed to carry forward the momentum gained on
Monday, and the financial and material sectors emerged as major
laggards. The Financial SPDR Select Sector Fund (
XLF
) was down 0.5% and the Materials Select Sector SPDR (
XLB
) dropped 0.6%. Financial bellwethers American Express Company
(NYSE:
AXP
), Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE:
C
), JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:
JPM
) and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:
WFC
) lost 0.8%, 0.7%, 0.4% and 1.4%, respectively. As for the material
stocks, Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:
AA
), Nucor Corporation (NYSE:
NUE
), United States Steel (NYSE:
X
) and Arcelor Mittal (NYSE:
MT
) lost 0.2%, 0.6%, 1.2% and 1.4%, respectively.
ALCOA INC (
AA
): Free Stock Analysis Report
AMER EXPRESS CO (
AXP
): Free Stock Analysis Report
CITIGROUP INC (
C
): Free Stock Analysis Report
JPMORGAN CHASE (JPM): Free Stock Analysis
Report
ARCELOR MITTAL (MT): Free Stock Analysis Report
NUCOR CORP (NUE): Free Stock Analysis Report
WELLS FARGO-NEW (WFC): Free Stock Analysis
Report
UTD STATES STL (X): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment
Research