Dow Jones:12,569.87 (–12.90) S&P 500:1,337.88 (–1.79) Nasdaq:2,825.77 (+9.74)
US STOCKS ended a thinly-traded session mostly flat yesterday as investors paused after last week’s surge, though light volume suggested the market could encounter more choppy trading.
The Nasdaq closed higher for its sixth straight day, helped by strength in Netflix, while the Dow and the S&P 500 ended a five-day streak that marked the best week for equities in two years.
“It’s no real surprise that the market is having a harder time today getting excited given the big week we just had,” said Hayes Miller, the Boston-based head of asset allocation in North America at Baring Asset Management, which oversees $50.6 billion.
In another prospective headwind, Moody’s investors’ service slashed Portugal’s credit rating into junk territory on risks the country will need another bailout before it can return to capital markets. Equities dipped only slightly on the news, which Luke Rahbari, partner at the Chicago-based Stutland Volatility Group, said had been expected.
“This is more symbolic,” he said, though he added that “in the short term, everything will be pressured...everyone wants to get out of every asset class except cash and reassess after we get more clarity.”
The day’s volume was light, with only 6.04 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, below last year’s daily average of 8.47 billion. The trend was seen as enduring and the anemic action could exacerbate stocks gyrations in the holiday-shortened week. Markets were closed on Monday for Independence Day.
The Nasdaq was lifted by Netflix which surged 8.1 per cent to $289.63 and hit a new high at $291.23 in intraday trading after it said it was expanding its online video service to 43 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
New orders received by US factories bounced back in May, boosted by demand for transportation equipment. However stocks were little affected by the data following last week’s move and some traders may be betting the SP’s rally is near an end.
US crude oil futures surged 2 per cent to settle at $96.89 a barrel after Barclays Capital raised its forecast for the commodity in 2012. Marathon Oil rose 3.4 per cent to $34.07. – (Reuters)
