U.S. Stocks Close Sharply Lower
The U.S. stock markets have moved sharply
lower over the course of the trading session on Thursday, with the major
averages pulling back firmly into negative territory about posting strong gains
in the previous session.
26 of the 30 Dow components closed in the red
today. Leading to the downside were McDonald’s
(
MCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and
American Express
(
AXP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), which lost 2.6% and 1.9% respectively.
The price of oil moved sharply lower over
the course of the trading session on Thursday, as traders did some profit taking
following recent gains. Crude for March delivery closed down $1.14 at $54.23 a
barrel after reaching a high of $55.80 a barrel.
The price of gold turned lower over the
course of the trading session, as traders cashed in on some of the early gains.
After reaching a five-month intraday high of $654.80 an ounce, gold for February
delivery closed down $0.10 at $648.10 an ounce.
From
our new PowerRatings
Heat Maps*,
the overall stock market has
been displaying price action that has historically led to weakness, with the
energy sector looking particularly vulnerable. Some of the lowest energy related
PowerRatings stocks over the past few days has been BJ Services
(
BJS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and Grant PrideCo
(
GRP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), which closed the day lower by 4.4% and 3.5%
respectively.
Stocks on the Move
EBay
(
EBAY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q4 Earnings Rise, Top Estimates; Guides FY07 EPS
Above Consensus; Reveals $2 Bln Additional Share Buyback (full
story). EBAY shares jumped 8% in today’s session.
AT&T
(
T |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q4 Profit Rises 17%, Revenues Up 23%; Adj. EPS Rises, Tops
Consensus; Reaffirms FY07, FY08 EPS Outlook (full
story). T shares rose by 0.4%.
Nucor
(
NUE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q4 Profit Up 20% On Higher Sales Prices (full
story). NUE shares rose by 5.8%.
Dow Chemical
(
DOW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q4 Earnings Decline, Yet EPS Tops Consensus;
Sales Up 3% (full
story). DOW shares finished fractionally lower.
Union Pacific
(
UNP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q4 Profit Up 64%, Revenue Rises 9%, EPS Tops
Consensus; Company Says Bullish About FY07 (full
story). UNP shares lost 0.5%.
Northrop Grumman
(
NOC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q4 Profit Up 37%, EPS Tops Consensus; Lifts
FY07 EPS Forecast In Line With Estimates (full
story). NOC shares lost 0.7%.
For more stories as they happen, go to our
Breaking News section.
Market Snapshot
|
Dow | -119.21 | 12,502.56 |
| NASDAQ | -32.04 | 2,434.24 |
|
S&P 500 | -16.23 | 1,423.90 |
|
NYSE |
| |
|
Volume | 2,987,798,000 | 2,202,249,000 |
|
| 795 | 873 |
|
Declines | 2519 | 2162 |
|
Up Volume | 874 | 565 |
|
Down Volume | 1963 | 1564 |
|
New Highs | 255 | 117 |
|
| 27 | 49 |
Strongest/Weakest Sectors
| Strongest Sectors | Weakest Sectors |
|
S&P Healthcare Index | Nasdaq Other Finance Index (OFINX) |
Dow Jones Equity REIT Index (DJR) | Amex Oil Index (XOI) |
CBOE Technology Index (TXX) | Amex Securities Broker Dealer Index (XBD) |
Economic News
Natural Gas Inventory fell 179 bcf to 2757 bcf
Help Wanted Index 33 vs 31 consensus
Darren Wong
darrenw@tradingmarkets.com
P.S.
Click here to use PowerRatings to identify stocks that could potentially
move higher in the next few days.
* PowerRatings Heat Maps is a powerful tool, which can help you make sense of
the markets in an instant. For a free trial to PowerRatings Heat Maps
click
here.Â