US stocks end quarter on a somber note

Best quarter for US stocks in many years

US stocks ended the last day of the second quarter on a weak note on Tuesday, 30 June, 2009. Despite that, it was the best quarter witnessed by stocks in many years. Stocks shed their gains soon earlier in the morning after the consumer confidence data checked in lower than expected showing that expectations among consumers took a drop once again in June after a sudden rise in May. After this, stocks lingered in the red for the entire day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended lower by 82.38 points at 8,447. The Nasdaq Composite Index, ended lower by 9 points at 1,835.22. S&P 500 ended lower by 7.9 points at 919.3.

3M, Microsoft, Bank of America and Mc Donalds were the only Dow components that traded higher today. IBM, P&G, Caterpillar, Exxon Mobil and Chevron were the main Dow laggards. All ten sectors posted a loss led by telecom and materials sectors.

The Dow logged a second quarter gain of almost 11%, though. That's the best quarterly performance since the fourth quarter of 2003. Nasdaq registered a second quarter gain of 20%, the best since 2003. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 logged a second quarter gain of 15%, which would be the best quarterly gain posted since the fourth quarter of 1998. Financials saw the best gains of any major sector during the second quarter.

The Conference Board reported on Tuesday, 30 June, 2009 that reading on U.S. consumer confidence relapsed in June, falling to 49.3 from a slightly downwardly revised 54.8 in May.

After a large confidence jump in May, consumers once again grew more pessimistic in June about their present and future. The present situation index declined to 24.8 in June from 29.7 in May, while the expectations index fell to 65.5 from 71.5.

The percentage of consumers with plans to buy an automobile within six months fell to 4.6% from 5.7%, while those with plans to buy a home fell to 2.7% from 2.8%, and those with plans to buy major appliances fell to 26.5% from 29.2%.

In a separate report, the Chicago Purchasing Manager Index for June just came in at 39.9, which is a bit above the 39 that was expected and up from the 34.9 that was registered in the prior report.

Barring Sify, all other Indian ADRs ended in the red today. ICICI Bank and Tata Motors were the largest losers shedding 4.3% and 9.3% respectively.

Crude prices ended lower at Nymex on Tuesday, 30 June, 2009. Prices fell today as consumer confidence in US showed unexpected drop for last month. Despite the drop, crude registered highest quarterly gain since 1990. On Tuesday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for August delivery closed at $69.89/barrel (lower by $1.6 or 2.2%). During intra day trading, crude rose to a high of $73.38/barrel.

In the currency market on Tuesday, the dollar index, a six-currency measure of the greenback's value, rose, heading for the first gain in four sessions, after the business-backed Conference Board in New York said consumer sentiment declined this month. The dollar index gained 0.4% today. The dollar index dropped by 6.4% in the second quarter and is lower by 1% on a y-t-d basis.

Tomorrow will again be a day heavy in economic data. In economic data, the ADP Employment (June), Construction Spending (May), ISM Index (June), Auto & Truck Sales (June) reports all due for release. In addition, the weekly crude inventory report is scheduled for 10:30ET.