Stocks on Wall Street have retreated after the biggest two-day rally since October as service industries turned in disappointing results.Although share prices recovered some losses during the session, investors were also weighed down by weakness in banks,
Stocks on Wall Street have retreated after the biggest two-day rally since October as service industries turned in disappointing results.
Although share prices recovered some losses during the session, investors were also weighed down by weakness in banks, concerns about Toyota and questions about the outlook for the labour market.
A rally in the US dollar dragged on dollar-traded commodity stocks.
Home Depot and American Express lost more than 1.6%, helping lead declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The Institute for Supply Management’s January index of non-manufacturing businesses rose to 50.5, less than forecast and the highest level since May 2008, from 49.8 in December,
A private industry payroll report said 22,000 jobs were cut in January, much lower than the 30,000 expected and December's figure of 62,000.
The Dow shed 26.30 points, or 0.3%, to close at 10,270.55..
Pfizer slumped 2.7% after the drugmaker’s earnings trailed analyst estimates because of higher costs from its acquisition of Wyeth.
McDonald’s increased the most in the Dow, rising 1.8% after Goldman Sachs added it to its “conviction buy” list.
News Corporation surged 5% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. The media company that owns the Twentieth Century Fox film studio and the Wall Street Journal reported second-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates and raised its 2010 earnings forecast after Avatar broke box-office records.
The S&P 500 Index slipped 0.5% to 1097.28 after rising 2.7% in the past two days. The Nasdaq Composite Index finished virtually unchanged at 2190 2183.
Other markets
Canadian stocks fell for the first time this week as financial shares declined after US service industries gained less than forecast and MetLife released financial results that disappointed investors.
Sun Life Financial lost 1.1% after MetLife’s book value missed its December forecast. Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan increased 4.5% after Belarusian Potash boosted Asian prices 6.5% on stronger demand.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index retreated 8.75 points, or 0.1%, to 11,399.59.
European stocks declined, halting a three-day advance for the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index, on concern Greece and Portugal will have difficulty curbing their deficits and worse-than-estimated earnings from Electrolux.
Electrolux, the world’s second-largest appliance maker, slumped the most in two years. Volkswagen surged 2.7% after its US sales jumped and Honda Motor raised its profit forecast.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index retreated 0.2% to 251.54, after rising as much as 0.4%.
National benchmark indexes declined in 14 of the 18 western European markets today.
London's FTSE 100 was 0.2% higher at 5295.05, Frankfurt's DAX was up 0.4% at 5729.91 and Paris' CAC-40 was up 0.4% at 3825.38.
Asian stocks rose for a second day and commodity prices advanced on positive US economic data.
China's Shanghai Composite gained 2.4% to 3003.83, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 2.2% to 20722.08, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average of 225 companies climbed 0.3% to 10404.33, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9% to 4647.9.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index jumped 1.2% to 118.97.
Commodities: Oil steady, gold down
Crude oil was little changed near $US77 a barrel in New York before a report that may show US supplies of distillate fuels such as heating oil shrank last week.
Crude oil for March delivery traded for $US77.22 a barrel, a 1USc drop. The contract earlier rose as much as 81USc, or 1.1%, to $US78.04 a barrel.
Gold futures were slightly lower as investors moved into the US dollar. April gold was down $US4.50, or 0.4%, at $US1113.50 an ounce in New York.
Currencies: US dollar up
The dollar added 0.3% against the euro and rose 0.6% compared with the yen as reports showed service industries in the US grew and companies cut fewer jobs than forecast last month.
The dollar gained 0.7% to ¥91.02, from ¥90.38 on Tuesday. It rose 0.4% to $US1.3913 per euro, from $US1.3965. The euro gained 0.4% to ¥126.74.
The Canadian dollar dropped from the highest level in more than a week as stocks fell and crude oil prices fluctuated, discouraging demand for currencies related to economic growth.
The Canadian currency declined 0.3% to $C1.0596 against the US dollar from $C1.0570. It earlier touched $C1.0546, the strongest level since January 26. One Canadian dollar buys 94.36USc.
