US stocks decline for first time in six days

Positive upside guidance fail to boost stocks

US stocks slipped for the first time in six sessions on Friday, 11 September, 2009. Economic reports dominated the day and the same that checked in were mixed in nature. Despite Friday's losses, stocks registered good gains for the week. The advance came despite a relatively slow week, with only a handful of earnings and economic reports.

For the week, that ended on Friday, 11 September, 2009, The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 164.14 points (1.7%) at 9,605.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index, ended higher by 62.12 points (3.1%) at 2,080.90. S&P 500 ended higher by 26.33 points (2.6%) at 1042.73. Nine of ten sectors registered weekly losses led by financial sector. Only the consumer staple sector managed to incur gains.

During the course of the week, in economic news, weekly jobless claims fell to 26,000 to 550,000, topping the 560,000 consensus. Continuing claims declined 159,000 to 6.088 million. The consensus expected continuing claims to decline a more modest 34,000.

The Fed's Beige Book, a collection of anecdotal economic data from the Fed districts, continued to show that the rate of economic decline is slowing, with manufacturing showing improvement. But areas such as employment, consumer spending, and construction remain weak.

In corporate news, Kraft offered to buy London-based Cadbury for $16.7 bln, which Cadbury subsequently rejected.

Among major earning announcements, Texas Instruments raised its Q3 outlook.

In the Wall Street on Friday, 11 September, 2009, stocks initially looked as if they would extend recent gains as they made their way to new intraday highs for 2009, but the largely listless trade in the early going made for choppy trade, which then invoked moderate selling pressure.

The Dow Jones industrial Average ended lower by 22.07 points on Friday, 11 September, 2009 at 9605.41. The Nasdaq shed 3.12 points to end at 2080.90. S&P 500 ended lower by 1.41 points at 1042.73.

An upbeat earnings forecast from FedEx helped keep the stock market's bullish mood intact and start the session in positive territory. FedEx issued upside earnings guidance for its fiscal first quarter, saying that strict cost management and better-than-expected volume in international shipments helped its performance. Campbell Soup and National Semiconductor also made upbeat forecasts, but their announcement didn't help market much.

Among economic reports expected on Friday, the Import Price Index for August first hit the wires. According to the report, last month's import prices were down a steeper-than-expected 2% month-over-month. Wholesale inventories for July fell 1.4%, which was a bit worse than had been expected.

The University of Michigan released a stronger-than-expected preliminary consumer sentiment survey for September that came in at 70.2. Last on the day's economic calendar was the Treasury's August budget, which showed a smaller-than-expected $111.4 billion deficit.

On Friday, crude prices ended lower for the first time in five sessions on Friday, 11 September, 2009. Prices ended lower due to weak demand concerns in the international front. On Friday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for October delivery closed at $69.29/barrel (lower by $2.65 or 3.7%). During intra day trading, crude had hit a high of $72.9 earlier. Prior to Friday, crude had added 6% in past four sessions. For the week, crude ended higher by 1.9%.

As per latest reports, crude imports in China, the world's second biggest oil consumer, fell to 18.47 million metric tons in August, or about 4.37 million barrels a day.

In the currency market on Friday, the dollar index, which measures the strength of dollar against a basket of other currencies, fell by 0.2%. The dollar fell against the euro to a fresh one year low.

Precious metal prices ended higher on Friday, 11 September, 2009. Prices rose due to the slipping dollar. On Friday, gold for December delivery ended at $1006.4, higher by $9.6 (1%) an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. During intra day trading, gold went up by 1013.7. For the week, gold ended higher by 1%.

For the year, The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 are higher by 9.4%, 32% and 15.4% respectively.