Traders Cautious Ahead of Fed Announcement
After seeing some strength earlier in the
session, the U.S. stock markets have moved lower in afternoon trading. The major
averages have pulled back well off their best levels of the day. Investors
and traders are cautious ahead of the Fed announcement on Wednesday.
The price of oil showed a notable decline
during trading on Monday, giving back some ground after showing a strong upward
move last week. After rising 3.8 percent over the course of last week, crude for
March delivery closed up $1.41 at $54.01 a barrel.
The price of gold showed a lack of direction
during trading on Monday, with the previous metal moving back and forth across
the unchanged line. Gold for February delivery eventually closed down $1.50 at
$643.20 an ounce.
Stocks on the Move
Dell
(
DELL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Reports Stronger Than
Expected Customer Interest For Vista (full
story). MSFT shares lost 0.2%, while DELL shares gained 0.7%.
Verizon
(
VZ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q4 Profit Down 38% Due To
Taxes On Sale Of Assets And Costs Related To Spinoff, Non-GAAP EPS Tops
Consensus (full
story). VZ shares gained 0.5%.
Phelps Dodge
(
PD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q4 Net Income Surges On Higher Revenues, Stronger
Metal Prices (full
story). PD shares finished lower by 2.7%.
Merrill Lynch
(
MER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) To Buy First Republic Bank
(
FRC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) In
$1.8 Bln Cash-stock Deal (full
story). MER shares lost 2%, while FRC shares soared by 40%.
Citigroup
(
C |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) To Buy Prudential’s Egg Banking For $1.13 Bln Cash (full
story). C shares lost 1%.
For more stories as they happen, go to our
Breaking News section.
Market Snapshot
|
Dow | +3.76 | 12,490.78 |
| NASDAQ | +5.60 | 2,441.09 |
|
S&P 500 | -1.56 | 1,420.62 |
|
NYSE |
| |
|
Volume | 2,531,903,000 | 1,902,983,000 |
|
| 1771 | 1780 |
|
Declines | 1501 | 1255 |
|
Up Volume | 1099 | 920 |
|
Down Volume | 1262 | 898 |
|
New Highs | 182 | 161 |
|
| 15 | 41 |
Strongest/Weakest Sectors
| Strongest Sectors | Weakest Sectors |
|
Amex Airline Index | Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI) |
Amex Disk Drive Index (DDX) | Amex Securities Broker/Dealer Index (XBD) |
Nasdaq Transportation Index (TRANX) | Nasdaq Other Finance Index (OFINX) |
Economic News
No economic reports released today.
Darren Wong
darrenw@tradingmarkets.com
P.S.
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