YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks eased up from session lows late in the
day, but the broad market still booked its worst loss of 2012. The sell-off
initially came with an increase in participation, but the pace of trade
eventually moderated so that total share volume remained in line with recent
trends.
Last week stocks scored their eighth weekly gain in nine tries to
set new multi-year highs, but they began to show fatigue in the final days of
that stretch. The struggle to extend the climb made many market participants
both edgy and curious if stocks were on the cusp of a pullback. Against that
backdrop news earlier this week that GDP for
Share volume was relatively strong in the early going. Many
participants appeared anxious to sell after they had stood pat on their long
positions, patiently watching stocks run higher in recent weeks. The rush to
sell slowed as time passed, however, leaving overall share volume on the NYSE
to total about 875 million shares. That's on the order of what has been
averaged in recent months.
Financials were hit the hardest today. The sector suffered a 2.5%
loss, but is still up more than 10% year to date. Defensive-oriented sectors
like Utilities, Telecom, and Consumer Staples managed to limit their losses to
less than 1%. Specifically, they fell 0.5%, 0.8%, and 0.8%, respectively.
Altogether, though, the stock market suffered its worst single-session slide in
nearly three months.
Widespread weakness spurred the Volatility Index more than 15%
higher so that it is back near its monthly high. It had been at a multi-month
low only two weeks ago.
Commodities were also clipped as traders took risk off of the
table. The action was so aggressive that the CRB Index fell 1.6% in its worst
single-session slide in two months. Oil was a particularly weak performer; futures
prices fell 1.9% to $104.72 per barrel.
An interest in safety took Treasuries higher, driving down the
yield on the benchmark 10-year Note to 1.95%, but that's still comfortably
above last week's lows near 1.90%.
The US dollar and Japanese yen also benefited from a flight to
safety. Buyers took the Dollar Index up 0.7% to trade at six-week high above
its 50-day moving average. The yen was up in excess of 1% against the
greenback, but by the closing bell it had eased back so that it traded with at
80.85 yen per dollar for a 0.8% gain.
Aggressive selling among commodities dropped the CRB Index for a
1.6% loss, which stands as its worst single-session slide in two months.
Oil was a heavy drag on the CRB. Futures prices fell 1.9% to
$104.72 per barrel. Natural gas failed to sustain an early gain by falling to
$2.35 per MMBtu for a loss of one penny.
Precious metals were sold aggressively, resulting in a 1.9% loss
for gold prices and a 2.8% loss for silver. The two metals settled pit trade at
$1671.60 per ounce and $32.81 per ounce, respectively.
Advancing Sectors:
(None)
Declining Sectors:
Utilities -0.5%, Telecom -0.8%, Consumer Staples -0.8%, Tech -1.1%, Health Care
-1.4%, Consumer Discretionary -1.5%, Energy -1.6%, Materials -2.2%, Industrials
-2.3%, Financials -2.5%DJ30 -203.66 NASDAQ -40.16 NQ100 -1.0% R2K -2.1% SP400
-1.9% SP500 -20.97 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 451/1.86
bln/2104 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 262/878 mln/2772