YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Disappointing data played a part in dropping
the S&P 500 to the 1300 line, which provided a floor for a rebound amid
renewed interest in Financials, but the attempt to advance lost steam and left
the stock market to suffer its second straight loss. During the course of May
the broad market sank more than 6%, which makes it the worst month since
September.
The major equity averages all dropped in excess of 1% in the prior
session as attention returned to the troubles of
Those developments helped improve the mood among traders ahead of
the open, but sentiment was undermined by a few economic reports that failed to
meet expectations.
The latest ADP Employment Change report suggests that private
payrolls increased during May by 133,000, which is less than the increase of
157,000 that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by
Briefing.com. The report is often regarded as a preview of the official monthly
payrolls report, which is due tomorrow.
Weekly initial jobless claims had remained near 370,000 for the
past few weeks, but the latest tally increased to 383,000. It had been widely
expected to come in at 368,000.
A revised reading of first quarter GDP also proved displeasing. It
suggested that the economy expanded at a clip of 1.9%, down from the 2.2%
increase that was featured in the preliminary reading, and less than the 2.0%
pace that had been broadly anticipated.
The
An absence if encouraging data and a midmorning pullback by the
euro to a near two-year low of just $1.23 made it easy for stocks to slide to
sizable losses. The S&P 500 was down about 1% to the 1300 line before it
stabilized.
Technical support coincided with an upturn by Financials to help
lift the broad market into afternoon trade. Financials were
able to settle with a 0.7% gain amid help from bank stocks and shares of
diversified financial services firms. Although Financials put on one of
the better performances of the day, they fell more than 9% in May to suffer one
of the worst monthly performances of any sector.
Telecom stocks were also strong today, but they have been
performing well all month. The sector scored a 0.8% gain today, and a near 3%
gain for the month. No other sector advanced in May. Many market participants
have come to favor the sector’s defensive characteristics and relatively rich
dividend yields. Some of those same features made Utilities the strongest
performers of 2011.
While many stocks were able to slash their losses in afternoon
action, the S&P 500 didn’t make a meaningful move into positive territory
until the final 30 minutes. The effort came apart into the close, though,
resulting in a return to negative territory by the closing bell.
For the second straight session Energy was the worst performing
sector. It suffered a 0.9% loss; along the way it set a new seven-month low.
Its descent has come in close correlation to a retreat by oil prices, which set
new 2012 lows today at $85.86 per barrel before it settled pit trade at $86.51
per barrel for a 1.5% loss.
The end of the month brought about an increase in share volume,
such that the number of shares traded on the NYSE surged above 1 billion to one
of the highest tallies of 2012.
Eurozone
concerns and disappointing domestic data weighed on many commodities today,
such that the CRB Index suffered a 0.8% loss. For the month of May it fell
almost 11%, which stands as its worst monthly performance since this past
September.
The CRB’s slide came as crude oil
extended its slide for a third consecutive session. It set a new 2012 low of
$85.86 per barrel in late morning action, but pushed up to a session high of
$87.64 per barrel before it ultimately settled at $86.51 per barrel for a 1.5%
loss. Inventory data that showed a build of 2.2 million barrels when a build of
1.0 million barrels had been anticipated didn’t help the case for crude.
Natural gas popped out of negative territory and traded up to a
floor session high of $2.50 per MMBtu despite
inventory data that showed a build of 71 bcf when a
build of 70 bcf had been broadly expected. However,
the energy component tumbled into the close and settled at $2.43 per MMBtu for a gain of just 0.4%.
Gold traded up to a pit session high of $1574.60 per ounce in
morning action, but quickly slid into negative territory and touched a session
low of $1553.00 per ounce. After some choppy action the yellow metal settled
floor trade with a 0.1% loss at $1564.50 per ounce. For May it fell about 6%.
As for silver, it began floor trade in negative territory and fell as low as
$27.51 per ounce. Although it climbed into the black in afternoon action,
silver ultimately settled at $27.80 per ounce, or 0.7% lower. Silver prices
dropped about 10% this month.
Advancing Sectors:
Telecom +0.8%, Financials +0.7%, Utilities +0.6%
Declining Sectors:
Consumer Discretionary -0.3%, Consumer Staples: -0.3%, Industrials -0.3%,
Health Care -0.4%, Materials -0.5%, Tech -0.6%, Energy -0.9%DJ30 -26.41 NASDAQ
-10.02 NQ100 -0.5% R2K +0.00% SP400 -0.3% SP500 -2.99 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1195/2.11 bln/1350 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec
1442/1.32 bln/1557