Financials weigh on stocks at Wall Street

Dow closes below 10,000 mark for first time in three months

US stocks stated and ended the day in the red on Monday, 08 February 2010. Though losses were minimal during most part of the day, the same cumulated during the final hour of trading. A sell-off in the financial sector weighed on the broader stock market as concerns about the global economy and U.S. interest-rate policy simmered. Commodities witnessed modest strength today due to weakness in the US Dollar Index.

At the end of the day on Monday, 08 February 2010, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended lower by 103.84 points at 9908.39. Nasdaq ended lower by 15.07 points at 2126.05. S&P 500 ended lower by 9.54 points at 1056.54. Dow opened 45 points lower earlier during the day. Dow closed below the 10,000 mark for the first time in three months today. Last week, it had slipped below that mark couple of times but had managed to end higher at the end.

All ten economic sectors ended in the red today led by financial, industrials and materials sectors. Overall news flow remained quite slow in the market.

Of the 30 Dow components, Bank of America was the worst performer. American Express, JP Morgan and Travelers were the other Dow laggards.

The financial sector was bogged down today following a Wall Street Journal report that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will begin laying the groundwork for credit tightening later in the year, bringing to a close of historically low rates that have made it easier for ailing banks to book big profits.

Despite choppy, listless action in the broader market, tech stocks were able to trade with steady gains. The sector was up with support from big names like Google, Intel and Texas Instruments.

Retailers were another segment that had managed to trade with strong gain today. Among retailer plays, CVS Caremark was a primary leader, thanks to better-than-expected earnings for its latest quarter. Online retailer Amazon.com and home improvement retailer Home Depot were also strong after analysts upgraded their shares ahead of the opening bell.

In other markets, the dollar weakened against both the euro and the Japanese yen. Crude-oil futures edged higher and gold futures rose.

In the currency market on Monday, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of dollar against the basket of six other currencies fell by almost 0.4%. The dollar had risen to seven month high against its counterparts last week.

After four consecutive sessions of drop, crude oil prices finally rose on Monday, 08 February 2010. Prices rose as cold weather is expected to grip parts of North America in the coming days. Prices also rose as the dollar's rally came to a halt and Nigerian militants said they disabled a pipeline operated by Royal Dutch Shell.

On Monday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for March delivery closed at $71.84/barrel (higher by $0.65 or 0.9%). During intra day trading, prices rose to a high of $72.39. Last week, crude had witnessed the biggest percentage daily drop in six months. On a year to date basis, crude is lower by 11%.

Among other energy products on Monday, gasoline for March delivery rose 1 cent to end at $1.90 a gallon. Heating oil for March gained 2 cents to $1.89 a gallon. Also on Monday, natural gas for March fell 11 cents to $5.40 per million British thermal units,

Precious metal prices kicked off the new week with a rise on Monday, 08 February 2010. Prices rose as the dollar's rally came to a halt. On Monday, gold for April delivery ended at $1,066.2 an ounce, higher by $13.4 (1.3%) an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier during intra day trading, it rose to a high of $1,074.3. Year to date, gold has shed 2.6%. On Monday, March Comex silver futures ended higher by 25.5 cents (1.7%) at $15.085 an ounce.

Indian ADRs ended mixed on Monday. Dr Reddys was the main loser shedding 3.5% followed by Rediff.com and Wipro Technologies, which fell 2% and 1.2% respectively. MTNL and Tata Motors were the main gainers soaring 2.3% and 1.3% respectively.

Tomorrow, there are no economic reports scheduled for the day. But earning reports will continue to pour in.