U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index heading for a second weekly decline, after a drop in commodities dragged energy and metal producers lower and as concerns continued that the economic rebound may be flagging.
U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index heading for a second weekly decline, after a drop in commodities dragged energy and metal producers lower and as concerns continued that the economic rebound may be flagging.
Research In Motion Ltd. retreated 2.9 percent after the maker of the BlackBerry smartphone was cut to “underweight” at Morgan Stanley. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. slid 1.3 percent as metals tumbled on concern the economy is weakening. Salesforce.com Inc. climbed 8.5 percent after the largest seller of online customer-management software beat sales and profit estimates.
The S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent to 1,068.62 as of 9:43 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 75.53 points, or 0.7 percent, to 10,195.68. The major benchmarks are poised for their first back-to-back weekly declines in more than a month.
“Economic numbers have disappointed this week,” said Michael Nasto at U.S. Global Investors Inc., which manages about $2.5 billion in San Antonio. “Everything from employment to manufacturing was bad.”
U.S. stocks retreated yesterday, with benchmark indexes closing at the lowest levels in a month, as initial jobless claims increased to the highest level since November and an index of Philadelphia-area manufacturing unexpectedly fell. The S&P 500 fell 12 percent from this year's high in April through yesterday, and is down 1 percent this week as signs the economic rebound is stalling overshadowed better-than-estimated earnings growth.
‘Loss of Momentum'
JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed forecasts for China's growth this year and in 2011, citing a near-term “loss of momentum” in the U.S. and global recoveries. China's gross domestic product may expand 9.8 percent this year, JPMorgan said in an e- mailed note today, less than the previous estimate of 10 percent. Next year the expansion may be 8.6 percent, down from an earlier forecast of 8.8 percent, the note said.
“Corporate earnings this quarter were good but macroeconomic data coming from the U.S. are negative,” said Jens Finkbeiner, who oversees about $190 million at F+M Financial GmbH in Frankfurt. “I don't think we'll see a double dip but we are in a correction phase. There's no reason for the market to go up at the moment.”
RIM, Metals
Research In Motion slumped 2.9 percent to $49.01. The maker of the BlackBerry smartphone was cut to “underweight” from “overweight” at Morgan Stanley, which cited mounting evidence that the company could lose market share faster than expected. Morgan Stanley cited competition from Apple Inc.'s iPhone and Google Inc.'s Android smartphone software.
Freeport-McMoRan, the world's largest publicly traded copper producer, dropped 1.3 percent to $71.13. Exxon Mobil Corp., the biggest energy company, declined 0.8 percent to $58.79.
Copper, gold and oil fell as the dollar rose, reducing the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment. The dollar climbed to a five-week high against the euro after European Central Bank council member Axel Weber said the ECB should keep stimulus measures in place through the end of the year.
Salesforce
Salesforce climbed 8.5 percent to $104.64. The world's largest seller of online customer-management software beat analysts' sales and profit estimates for the second quarter after signing up new customers and persuading current ones to add subscriptions.
Intuit Inc. advanced 7.9 percent to $41.84. The world's biggest maker of tax-preparation software reported a fourth- quarter loss that was smaller than analysts estimated and said it will buy back as much as $2 billion of shares.
Tyco International Ltd. gained 5.5 percent to $38.77. The world's largest maker of security systems will replace Smith International Inc. in the S&P 500, the provider of ratings and indexes said late yesterday
