US Market continues to bleed

Stocks ignore strong economic data and focuses on credit market concerns

US Market continued with its downward journey even on Friday, 27 July, 2007. Strong economic data failed to cheer market sentiment as ongoing worries about deal-financing overshadowed largely positive economic data and continued to sweep Wall Street. Crude prices crossed $77/bbl but it was of no use to Energy stocks which continued to slip due to Exxon Mobil’s earnings miss.

Reports that Cadbury Schweppes delayed the potential $15 bln sale of its drink division due to "extreme volatility" in debt markets exacerbated the worst of the fears that had been haunting the credit market since the past couple of weeks.

The Dow Jones Industrials plummeted by a huge 208 points to close at 13265.47. Tech heavy Nasdaq shed 37.1 points to close at 2562.24. S&P 500 dropped by 23.71 points to close at 1458.95.

Twenty-six out of the thirty Dow stocks closed in red on Friday. American Express, AIG and Exxon Mobil headed the list of the Dow laggards. JP Morgan and P&G were the Dow winners along with Boeing and 3M which managed to register marginal gains for the day.

US GDP makes a strong rebound in Q2

In the morning hours, the Commerce Dept reported that the U.S. gross domestic product grew at a 3.4% annual pace in the second quarter, a strong rebound from the 0.6% gain in the first quarter of the year (against economists’ expectation of a 3.2% gain for the quarter).

The core consumer price index, rose 1.4% in the second quarter. But that core number, which excludes food and energy, was down from the 2.4% rise in the first quarter, a good sign for inflation. The good GDP numbers just had a momentary positive impact on stocks.

Crude futures climbed, with September crude closing at $77.02 a barrel, its highest level since mid-August of last year. The contract was up 2.8% for the session and 1.6% for the week as supply and demand concerns returned.

On the New York Stock Exchange, more than 2.2 billion shares were traded, while 2.7 billion shares were exchanged at the Nasdaq. At the NYSE, declining stocks beat advancers, 2-1, and by 11-5 on the Nasdaq.