US stocks fall
Sunday, 30 August 2009
NEW YORK, Aug. 29 (Bloomberg): US stocks fell as investors sold companies whose profits are least tied to the economy after Dell Inc. and Intel Corp. bolstered confidence that the outlook for technology spending is improving. The dollar and oil advanced.
Merck & Co., McDonald's Corp. and AT&T Inc. fell as drugmakers, sellers of consumer goods, and phone companies posted the steepest drops in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Dell, the second-biggest computer maker, gained 1.8 per cent after beating analysts' profit estimates. Intel, the largest chipmaker, added 4 per cent following its increased forecast.
The S&P 500 lost 0.2 per cent to 1,028.93 at 4 p.m. in New York, trimming its second straight weekly gain to 0.3 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 36.43 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 9,544.20 in its first drop since Aug. 17. The Dollar Index added 0.4 per cent, while crude oil for October delivery added 0.3 per cent to $72.74 a barrel.
"People are perhaps considering shifting from playing defense to playing offense," said Lawrence Creatura, a money manager at Federated Clover Investment Advisors, which oversees $2 billion in Rochester, New York. "The offensive playbook says sell staples, sell safety, sell large-caps generically."
Makers of telephone equipment and drugs and suppliers of household goods failed to keep pace with the S&P 500 as it rebounded from a 12-year low on March 9, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Merck & Co., McDonald's Corp. and AT&T Inc. fell as drugmakers, sellers of consumer goods, and phone companies posted the steepest drops in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Dell, the second-biggest computer maker, gained 1.8 per cent after beating analysts' profit estimates. Intel, the largest chipmaker, added 4 per cent following its increased forecast.
The S&P 500 lost 0.2 per cent to 1,028.93 at 4 p.m. in New York, trimming its second straight weekly gain to 0.3 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 36.43 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 9,544.20 in its first drop since Aug. 17. The Dollar Index added 0.4 per cent, while crude oil for October delivery added 0.3 per cent to $72.74 a barrel.
"People are perhaps considering shifting from playing defense to playing offense," said Lawrence Creatura, a money manager at Federated Clover Investment Advisors, which oversees $2 billion in Rochester, New York. "The offensive playbook says sell staples, sell safety, sell large-caps generically."
Makers of telephone equipment and drugs and suppliers of household goods failed to keep pace with the S&P 500 as it rebounded from a 12-year low on March 9, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.