COMMENTARY | COLUMNISTS | GEORGE CHAMBERLIN

Stocks pare losses on bets Europe nearing debt agreement

By , Executive Editor

Stock prices rallied from sharp losses early in the session on Thursday to close with modest losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, down 180 points at its lowest level, closed with a loss of just 24.75 points to 12,602.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 25.83 points to 2,849.49, and the S&P 500 Stock Index closed at 1,329.04, down 2.81 points.

The early selling followed the announcement from the Supreme Court regarding health care. The markets reversed course after word spread that European Union officials have made progress toward addressing the region's debt crisis at a meeting scheduled to end on Friday. After the market close, European Union President Herman Van Rompuy said leaders agreed to spend 120 billion euros ($149 billion) to stimulate growth.

Commodities ended lower. Oil fell to the lowest level since October, down $2.52 to $77.69 a barrel. Gold dropped $28 to $1,550.40 an ounce.

Equities tumbled earlier Thursday as the number of applications for unemployment benefits hovered last week near the highest of the year, showing little improvement in the labor market. The U.S. economy grew 1.9 percent in the first quarter, reflecting a gain in consumer spending that now shows signs of cooling as the labor market weakens.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) tumbled 2.5 percent after The New York Times said trading losses from credit derivatives may total as much as $9 billion, exceeding the firm’s initial estimate.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) dropped 2.6 percent to $26.39, trimming a decline of as much as 5.4 percent. The bank is not one of the lenders being investigated by the United Kingdom’s Financial Services Authority for attempting to manipulate the London interbank offered rate, the company said in an emailed statement Thursday.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC) led hospitals and Medicaid insurers higher while commercial health plans led by WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) fell after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld most of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

Tenet, the third-biggest hospital chain, rose 5.4 percent to $5.25, while Medicaid plan Molina Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: MOH) climbed 8.6 percent to $23.16. Indianapolis-based WellPoint, the second-largest U.S. health insurer, declined 5.2 percent to $65.90. Health care stocks in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.3 percent.

Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO), the largest maker of computer networking gear, slipped 1.5 percent to $16.48 after Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) said in a note Thursday that the company may be seeing weaker-than-expected demand trends.

Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) slumped 2.8 percent to $67.20. The owner of more than 7,200 discount shops in the United States narrowed its fiscal 2012 profit forecast. Rival Dollar Tree Inc. (Nasdaq: DLTR) retreated 2.4 percent to $52.18, while Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) declined 0.5 percent to $53.73.

News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWSA) dropped 1.4 percent to $21.99, after climbing 11 percent over the previous two days. It announced plans to split into two publicly traded entities focused on publishing and entertainment after shareholder pressure prompted the biggest reorganization since Rupert Murdoch built the media empire.








Bloomberg News contributed to this report.








Related Links:

New York Stock Exchange: www.nyse.com















Nasdaq Stock Market: www.nasdaq.com

Leave Your Comment

Comments are moderated by SDDT, in accordance with the SDDT Comment Policy, and may not appear on this commentary until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting. Also, due to the volume of comments we receive, not all comments will be posted.

SDDT Comment Policy: SDDT encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. All comments should be relevant to the topic and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. You are solely responsible for your own comments, the consequences of posting those comments, and the consequences of any reliance by you on the comments of others. By submitting your comment, you hereby give SDDT the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying and other information you provide via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. SDDT Privacy Statement.

User Response
0 UserComments

Leave Your Comment

Comments are moderated by SDDT, in accordance with the SDDT Comment Policy, and may not appear on this commentary until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting. Also, due to the volume of comments we receive, not all comments will be posted.

SDDT Comment Policy: SDDT encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. All comments should be relevant to the topic and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. You are solely responsible for your own comments, the consequences of posting those comments, and the consequences of any reliance by you on the comments of others. By submitting your comment, you hereby give SDDT the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying and other information you provide via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. SDDT Privacy Statement.
SUBSCRIBE | LOG IN
Subscribe Today!

contact info: Iam Pam