Two closely watched stock indexes turned negative for the year this morning. The Nasdaq Composite Index finished 41.14 points lower, or 1.53 per cent, at 2643.73. The small-capitalisation Russell 2000 fell 13.10, or 1.65 per cent, to 779.54. .
Investors were dour after US May import prices showed a surprise gain of 0.2 per cent, hinting at an inflation push coming into the US from abroad. Overseas, sovereign-debt worries continued to rattle investors, pushing European stocks lower. A surprise interest-rate increase by the Bank of Korea weighed on Asian bourses.
The action follows a string of weak readings on the US economy which joined with pessimism about weaker global growth to weigh on major stock indexes. Unsurprisingly, the mood on the trading floor was grim.
"At the moment there doesn't seem to be any place to hide," said Ted Weisberg, president of Seaport Securities. "Best-case scenario, (traders) don't know what to do. Worst case, they're simply throwing in the towel because they're frustrated. Nothing seems to work."
The declines come as more on Wall Street are talking about a full-blown stockmarket correction. Market analysts generally consider stocks to be in a correction if indexes sink more than 10 per cent from their recent closing highs. On a closing basis, the blue-chip Dow is 6.7 per cent below its multi-year closing high in late April. The S&P 500 has fallen 6.8 per cent from its own mark.
"There's a growing idea that perhaps this slowdown is not as temporary as it looks," said John Brady, senior vice president at MF Global. "It's not so much that the economic data has become soft. It's the pace by which the data has been soft."
Energy stocks led decliners after reports Saudi Arabia would increase oil output, driving crude oil sharply lower, near $US99 a barrel.
Travelers Cos. fell 2.7 per cent, or $US1.87, to $US59.21, one of the blue-chip Dow's worst performers after the insurer said it was slowing its share-buyback program following natural disasters that cost about $US1 billion over two months.
Lululemon Athletica rose $US3.80, or 4.4 per cent, to $US89.94, after reporting fiscal first-quarter earnings and a second-quarter outlook above estimates.
General Motors shed US60 cents, or 2 per cent, to $US28.85, after the Wall Street Journal reported the automaker is open to selling its struggling Adam Opel unit if it receives an offer that is more favourable than the one it rejected in 2009.
Live Nation Entertainment gained US62 cents, or 6 per cent, to $US10.92. Live Nation Chairman Irving Azoff and the company's largest shareholder, Liberty Media's John Malone, are in early talks to consider taking the company private, the New York Post reported yesterday on its website, citing a person close to Live Nation.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber shed $US1.07, or 6.7 per cent, to $US14.99. The company agreed to sell its global wire business to South Korea-based Hyosung Corp for $US50 million.
Rentrak Corp shed $US2.79, or 12 per cent, to $US19.65, after the media-measurement company swung to a surprise fiscal fourth-quarter loss, with lower revenue and higher operating expenses.
Jeweler Zale plunged $US1.13, or 18 per cent, to $US5.13, after Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts downgraded their investment rating on the stock to neutral from a buy, predicting few catalysts to drive the stock higher until August.
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