| Winning Streak Ends On Growing Concerns Over The Fiscal Cliff Impasse |
| Dec-14-2012 |
| Keywords: fiscal cliff, stocks, wholesale inflation, weekly jobless claims |
Stocks ended the week on a sour note. Investor enthusiasm dampened by a lack of progress in fiscal cliff negotiations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 36 points. The Nasdaq Composite retreated 21 points. The S&P 500 finished trading 6 points lower.
All three major stock indexes ending the week in the loser's column, ending a three week wining streak on the Dow and S&P 500.
The market as of late has maintained a wait-and-see stance regarding a resolution to budget negotiations. However, following Thursday's fruitless meeting between President Obama and Speaker Boehner, the market may be losing its patience with Washington.
Technology stocks were a big drag on the market on Friday.
Apple's stock fell 3.76% after UBS cut it price target from $780 to $700 a share. A chilly reception to its debut of the iPhone 5 in China also weighed on Apple's stock which is down almost 13% in just the past two weeks. However, Apple maintains a health 26 percent return year to date.
Best Buy shares dropped 14.6% after the electronics retailer said it had extended the time frame for co-founder Richard Schulze to submit a buyout offer for the company.
Adobe Systems was a standout performer among technology stocks. Adobe's stock jumped 5.7% after topping both earnings and revenue targets.
Economic reports on Friday showed a decline in consumer prices and larger than expected increases in industrial production last month.
The crude oil market got a 1% lift from a stronger than expected report on Chinese manufacturing. HSBC's "flash" manufacturing PMI for December came in at 50.9. That is the highest reading on Chinese manufacturing in 12-months.
Those economic reports helped push crude oil prices 1% higher on the day. The January crude contracted ended trading up 84 cents, settling at $86.73. |
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Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 10:00 PM Email to a friend |
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