A lackluster day for US Market

Stocks lose steam going into close as crude kisses $69 mark

US market witnessed a lackluster trading session today without any major catalyst rocking the market. Surprisingly, all the three indices ended in red in spite of the yield on the 10-year note dropping back to 5.14%. New concerns about subprime lending further made stocks stumble.

A report in a London paper that BHP Billiton is believed to be reconsidering a $40 billion bid for Dow component Alcoa cheered investors for a little time as oil prices kissing the $69/bbl mark pulled out steam from the stocks going into close.

Almost half of the 30 Dow stocks retreated into red in the final trading hour today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower by 26.5 points at 13612.98. Nasdaq slipped marginally by 0.11 points to close at 2626.6 and S&P 500 went down by 1.86 points to close at 1531.05.

Alcoa, Caterpillar, Walt-Disney and Coco-Cola were the major Dow winners today. Boeing, Honeywell and P&G were the main Dow laggards.

Among other merger related news, General Electric is reportedly pairing up with Financial Times publisher, Pearson to make an offer for Dow Jones.

New data shows continuing deterioration in the housing market

When market opened in the morning, the indices were sporting modest gains despite a lack of concerted leadership. Dow was up by almost 13 points at one point.

But within one hour of trading, the indices reversed their course of action and Dow remained in the red for major part of the day. Nasdaq, though crossed the flat line a couple of times, also slipped into red going into close.

New data showed continuing deterioration in the housing market. The National Association of Home Builders said the outlook for home building is the worst in 16 years. The builders' housing market index fell by two points to 28 in June, the lowest since February 1991.

The yield on the 10-year note stood at 5.17% during the first half of the day after hitting 5.14% earlier in the morning.

Energy was the best-performing sector today due to the jump in oil prices. Technology and Financials were mixed.

Yahoo shares up 8% on CEO resignation

Crude oil futures rose substantially today to their highest levels since September 2006. crude oil futures for light sweet crude for July delivery closed at $69.09/barrel (higher by $1.09/barrel or 1.6%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are down just 1.1% from a year ago.

Crude prices surpassed $69/bbl on news that Nigerian unions planned a strike this week, threatening supplies from Africa's biggest oil producer. The strike is called for 20 June to protest increases in taxes and domestic fuel prices.

Trading volumes showed 1.206 billion shares exchanging hands on the New York Stock Exchange and 1.732 billion trading on the Nasdaq stock market. Declining issues topped gainers by 17 to 15 on the NYSE and by 15 to 13 on Nasdaq.

In after market trading hours, Yahoo shares were up 8% on news that company’s CEO, Terry Semel has resigned. For tomorrow, the economic data expected before market opens is Census Bureau’s report on May Housing Starts and Building Permits. On the earnings front, Best Buy is a major name to come out with its report.