Stock Market News for July 9, 2012 - Market News
09 Julho 2012 - 6:06AM
Zacks
Discouraging U.S. nonfarm payroll
data dragged the benchmarks to sharp losses on Friday. This was the
third straight time that the US labor market showed such dismal
signs. The report comes during a week which has already witnessed a
few weak economic readings. Eventually, except for the Nasdaq, the
benchmarks ended the week on a losing note. Crude oil prices also
moved lower and the energy sector suffered a great deal.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
(DJI) suffered a triple-digit loss as it slumped 124.20 points or
1% to close at 12,772.47. The Standard & Poor 500 (S&P 500)
dropped 0.9% to finish Friday’s trading session at 1,354.68. The
tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 1.3% and was down 38.79
points to 2,937.33. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX)
slipped 2.3% and settled at 17.10. Volumes have been significantly
low on most occasions through the week and Friday was no exception.
Consolidated volumes on the New York Stock Exchange, the American
Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, were roughly 4.96 billion shares,
sharply lower than last year's daily average of 7.84 billion.
Declining stocks on the NYSE outnumbered the advancers, as for 65%
stocks that declined, only 31% stocks could move up.
All eyes on Friday were fixed on
the nonfarm payroll employment data that was to be released by the
U.S. Department of Labor. However, when the report came in, it once
again reflected the sorry state of the labor market even after
three years of the official end of the recession. According to the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nonfarm payroll employment
increased by only 80,000 in June. This was far lower than consensus
estimates of an addition of 90, 000 jobs. The latest figures added
to the gloom since the U.S. labor market is suffering over the last
three months. This was the third straight month that the economy
added less than 100, 000 jobs.
Delving deeper into the report, the
unemployment rate remained constant at 8.2% and the number of
unemployed persons also was hardly unchanged at 12.7 million.
Another major aspect that dented the mood was that the growth in
employment had significantly slowed down in the second quarter as
against the first three months. The report noted: “In the
second quarter, employment growth averaged 75,000 per month,
compared with an average monthly gain of 226,000 for the first
quarter of the year. Slower job growth in the second quarter
occurred in most major industries”.
Tepid growth in U.S. hiring,
lower-than-expected jobs additions, a static unemployment rate, and
the slowing trend in the second quarter versus the first quarter
took a heavy toll on market sentiment. However, the negative trend
did not spur hopes of further economic stimulus this time. Through
the week, there have been some dismal economic readings and the
general mood has grown optimistic about further quantitative easing
by the Federal Reserve. At the beginning of this week, a
contraction in U.S. manufacturing activity threatened to dent
investor sentiment, but hopes of economic stimulus from the central
bank kept positive sentiment afloat. Later in the week, economic
activity in the non-manufacturing sector was reported to be
slower-than-expected, reaching its lowest level since January 2012.
This had sparked off hopes of economic stimulus.
However, dismal nonfarm payroll
data failed to sustain any such hopes and it came after initial
claims data that showed signs of decline while the ADP reported
addition of more-than-expected jobs. Separately, the week also
witnessed weak data from the manufacturing sectors of Europe and
China. Investors remained apprehensive about the global financial
environment and interest rate cuts in China and the Euro zone and
monetary policy measures by The Bank of England were of no help to
US markets. Thus, the benchmarks, but for the Nasdaq, struggled to
end on a winning note on a holiday-shortened trading week. The Dow
and S&P 500 lost 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively, while the Nasdaq
edged up 0.1%.
Coming back to Friday’s
developments, crude oil prices lost 3% and were down to $84.45 per
barrel. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) dropped 1.2% and energy
shares including Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), ConocoPhillips
(NYSE:COP), BP plc (NYSE:BP), Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG),
Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB), Marathon Oil Corporation
(NYSE:MRO), Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) and Occidental
Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) lost 0.9%, 1.0%, 1.8%, 2.2%, 1.4%,
2.0%, 1.0% and 1.4%, respectively.
BP PLC (BP): Free Stock Analysis Report
CONOCOPHILLIPS (COP): Free Stock Analysis Report
MARATHON OIL CP (MRO): Free Stock Analysis Report
MURPHY OIL (MUR): Free Stock Analysis Report
OCCIDENTAL PET (OXY): Free Stock Analysis Report
TRANSOCEAN LTD (RIG): Free Stock Analysis Report
SCHLUMBERGER LT (SLB): Free Stock Analysis Report
EXXON MOBIL CRP (XOM): Free Stock Analysis Report
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