Battle At Key Support
The Nasdaq Composite
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battled to stay above key support
around 1200, trading just below the session and weekly highs most of the day. The futures opened lower and then ended the
day on a sour note, closing near the lows. The Dec. Nasdaq 100
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closed just above the worst levels of the day at 861.50 down 10 or 1.15%.Â
The S&P 500 cash Index lost 27.59, or 3.2% to 827.36. General Electric, Philip
Morris and Wyeth were responsible for 15% of the loss. The Dow declined 295.67,
or 3.7%, to 7701.45. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 22.53, or 1.8%, to
1199.08.
For the week, the S&P 500 lost 2.1%, the Dow 3.6% and the Nasdaq 1.8%. The
benchmarks’ last weekly gains came Aug. 23.
The Dec. S&P 500 futures
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dropped 3.38% closing near the lows of the day at 825.29 down 28.28.
These declines are showing that investors are concerned that the expected
rebound in corporate earning may not happen.
The Dec. 10-year Treasury note
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30-year bond for Dec.
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gains as some investors anticipated a weak economic recovery will prompt the
Federal Reserve to cut interest rates before year-end.
In the energy markets, Nov. crude oil
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Oct. heating oil
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Oct unleaded gasoline
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gallon; and Nov. natural gas for Nov. added .17 or 4.42% to close at 4.04.
In the grains and beans, the markets were mixed
with corn and soybeans giving back some of their previous gains. Dec. corn
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bushel.
In the metals Dec. gold
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continued its slide giving up .60 to end at $321.10 a troy ounce. Dec. silver
also dropped off, closing at $4.505 an ounce down 2 cents, and Dec. copper
closed at 66.70 a pound down 1.19 or 1.77%