Dow now at 11,093, down 74 points late this morning.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell sharply Friday after the government
issued a weaker-than-expected reading on the economy.
A drop in consumer sentiment and concerns surrounding financial
regulation contributed to the selling. The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 100 points.
“The market may just be a little bit tired,” said Michael Sheldon,
chief market strategist at RDM Financial Group in Westport, Conn.
“A lot of good news is priced into the market.”
Many analysts have said the stock market was poised for a pullback
after it climbed steadily for nearly three months.
In the last trading session of April, the Dow is still set to post
its third straight monthly gain. However it looks like it will snap
an eight-week winning streak.
Friday’s pullback began after the government said the gross
domestic product rose at a 3.2 percent annual pace in the
January-March period. That was below the 3.4 percent rate
economists polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast.
While the GDP was up for the third straight quarter, it was down
from the fourth quarter’s 5.6 percent, a rate that was inflated by
government stimulus spending and companies restocking their
depleted inventories. For the economy to show healthy growth, it
would have to grow at a faster pace than it did the first three
months of the year. Growth would have to equal 5 percent for all of
2010 just to lower the average jobless rate for the year by 1
percentage point.
The Labor Department will release its April employment report next
week. Economists predict the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7
percent.
Analysts were relatively upbeat that the first-quarter growth rate,
though slow, probably was good enough to help avoid a “double-dip”
recession.
“GDP was slightly lower than expectations, but shows the economic
recovery is probably sustainable,” said Peter Cardillo, chief
market economist at Avalon Partners Inc. in New York.
Investors were disappointed by a separate report from Reuters and
the University of Michigan that showed consumer sentiment rose to
72.2 in April from a preliminary April reading of 69.5. However, it
was still lower than March’s 73.6. Economists had forecast a
reading of 71.
The consumer sentiment report shows the “consumer isn’t fully
recovered,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at
Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.
Investors want to see data that shows month-over-month improvement,
Luschini added.
Financial stocks were pulled down by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,
which is now facing a criminal investigation for its dealings in
subprime mortgage securities. A Standard & Poor’s equity analyst
downgraded Goldman Sachs’s stock to a “sell” rating Friday morning.
Its shares dropped more than 7 percent.
In afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 100.51,
or 0.9 percent, to 11,066.81. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell
13.64, or 1.1 percent, to 1,193.14, while the Nasdaq composite
index fell 34.74, or 1.4 percent, to 2,477.18.
The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index rose this month, further
evidence of a recovery in the manufacturing sector. The index,
which reflects economic activity in the Midwest, jumped to 63.8 in
April, from 58.8 last month. Economists expected the index to rise
to 60.
Signs of an improving domestic economy pushed stocks higher the
past two days, after fresh concerns about European debt problems
sent shares plummeting on Tuesday. The Dow jumped 122 points
Thursday, its biggest jump since March 5, after another batch of
strong earnings and a Labor Department report that showed initial
claims for jobless benefits fell last week.
Despite the gains the past two days, investors are still keeping an
eye on the European debt problems. The biggest concerns are in
Greece, where the country faces loan repayments in a couple of
weeks. If it is unable to tap a joint European Union and
International Monetary Fund bailout package before May 19, the
country could default on its debt.
Analysts fear that debt problems will spread across the continent
and stunt a global economic recovery.
Greece, Portugal and Spain all saw their debt ratings slashed by
Standard & Poor’s earlier this week. Greece’s was cut to junk
status. Lower ratings make it more expensive to borrow money, which
would only add to debt burdens already facing some European
nations.
European markets fell. Britain’s FTSE 100 dropped 1.2 percent,
Germany’s DAX index fell 0.2 percent, and France’s CAC-40 fell 0.8
percent.
The euro rose against the dollar, but analysts remain cautious
about its long-term future. Some have said that the debt problems
could further drive down its value or lead to a split among the 16
countries that share the currency.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs is again contending with negative
headlines. The big Wall Street bank — which is already facing civil
fraud charges for misrepresenting details about subprime mortgage
securities — is now also facing a criminal investigation.
“They’re really going after Goldman pretty hard,” said Ryan
Detrick, senior technical analyst at Schaeffer’s Investment
Research. “That’s got people on edge.”
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation against
the bank over mortgage securities deals it arranged. Many blame the
credit crisis on the collapse of similar securities which were
traded by many banks around the world.
Detrick said that after all asset bubbles, regulators and
politicians look for companies or executives to blame and Goldman
is currently at the top of that list.
Goldman shares tumbled $15.18, or 9.5 percent, to $145.06.
Earnings again largely topped expectations. Both oil company and
Dow component Chevron Corp., homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc. and
consumer products maker Newell Rubbermaid Inc. saw shares rise
after reporting better-than-expected profit.
Chevron shares dipped despite the upbeat earnings as the broader
energy sector has been hurt on the day by concerns about an oil
spill off the Louisiana coast and its potential impact on future
exploration and drilling. Chevron fell 12 cents to $82.18 after
trading higher earlier in the day.
D.R. Horton shares jumped 63 cents, or 4.4 percent, to $14.87.
Newell Rubbermaid jumped 51 cents, or 3 percent, to $17.46.
About two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock
Exchange, where volume came to 593.7 million shares, compared with
612.8 million shares traded at the same time Thursday.
Bond prices rose as stocks dipped. The yield on the benchmark
10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.67
percent from 3.73 percent late Thursday.
Gold and oil prices both rose.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 7.82, or 1.1
percent, to 729.92.
