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Wall Street suffered losses for a fourth straight day yesterday as
disappointing home sales, manufacturing and jobless data raised new doubts about
growth in major sectors of the economy and prompted a sharp pullback from
riskier assets.
Stocks got off on the wrong foot for the second half of this year after
suffering through the worst quarter since late 2008.
United States manufacturing activity fell to its lowest level since December,
while pending home sales dropped a record 30 percent in May.
"None of the data is good for the bullish camp, which was expecting a
V-shaped recovery for the rest of the year. The numbers suggest fatigue in the
consumer sector and a deceleration in government spending as it relates to the
stimulus," said Joseph Battipaglia, market strategist at Stifel Nicolaus.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 113.81 points, or 1.16 percent, to
9,660.21 early yesterday. The Standard &Poor's 500 Index lost 16.35 points,
or 1.59 percent, to 1,014.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 40.19 points,
or 1.91 percent, at 2,069.05.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell below the key 1,040 level held since
February, falling from what chartists said was a very bearish "head and
shoulders" trend reversal pattern, pointing to a major retreat in coming
months.
For the second quarter ended Wednesday, stocks saw their worst losses since
the market meltdown sparked by the fall of Lehman Brothers. |
