US stocks pared all of prior session's gains and ended with losses on Wednesday, 29 May 2013 at Wall Street. Stocks slipped out of the gate as sellers drove the major averages to their lows 90 minutes into the session. However, the relative weakness of several influential groups kept the benchmark average from regaining its flat line. But worries over global-growth prospects and fears the Federal Reserve will begin to scale back its bond-buying program pushed indices lower at the end of the day.
For the day, the Dow ended lower by 106.59 points (0.7%) at 15,302.8. Nasdaq ended lower by 21.37 points (0.61%) at 3,467.52. S&P 500 ended lower by 11.7 points (0.7%) at 1,648.36.
The ten economic sectors had a mixed finish. Financials and technology sectors were strong while utilities, telecom and consumer staples led the laggards.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development cautioned that global growth could get hit as governments pare back easy-money programs, and it gave a bleaker forecast for the euro-zone economy this year.
The IMF cut its estimate for China's economic growth in 2013 and 2014 to 7.75%. It previously estimated growth of 8% for this year and 8.2% next year.
Separately, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned that when the U.S. Federal Reserve and others start tapering their monetary-easing programs, that will likely cause spikes in government-bond yields and put growth in the global economy at risk. The OECD said the U.S. economy is still expected to grow, though at a slightly lower rate than previously thought. It predicts a rate of 1.9% in 2013, down from an earlier estimate of 2.0%
In the currency market, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, fell by 0.2%.
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Following last week's news events from the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke's speech to Congress and the latest FOMC minutes' release traders and investors will examine this week's U.S. economic data with a keener sense of whether the economy continues to grow slowly, or is beginning to fade. Tuesday's data favored the hawkish Fed camp that wants to wind down quantitative easing of U.S. monetary policy.
Regarding economic data expected at Wall Street Wednesday, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index, decreased 8.8% to follow last week's decline of 9.8%.
The financial space benefitted from the gains in Goldman Sachs as the stock spent the entire day in positive territory before closing near its high. Elsewhere, tech shares received a boost from key components like Apple and Cisco Systems as well as chipmakers. Intel settled higher by 0.8%.
Bullion metal prices ended higher on Wednesday, 29 May 2013. Prices rose for first time in three sessions following weak dollar. Gold futures settled higher on Wednesday as strength in the euro helped prices recoup most of what they lost in the past two trading sessions.
Gold for August delivery ended higher by $12.1 (0.9%) at $1,391.8 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday. It touched a high of $1392.9 and a low of $1381.4 during intra day trading. July silver ended higher by $0.26 cents (1.2%) at $22.45 an ounce on Wednesday.
Crude-oil prices ended lower on Wednesday, 29 May 2013 at Nymex. July crude oil fell during today's floor trade as weakness in the equities markets and concerns that the Federal Reserve will cut its stimulus program weighed on prices. The energy component brushed a session high around $95 in early morning pit action put dropped sharply by about 1.5% thereafter. Light and sweet crude for July ended lower by $1.88 (2%) at $93.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.
For every stock rising, nearly four fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where 723 million shares exchanged hands. Composite volume approached 3.6 billion.
Indian ADRs ended mixed on Wednesday. In the IT space, Infosys was down 2.5% and Wipro was down 0.4%. In the Banking space, HDFC Bank was up 1.3% and ICICI Bank was up 2.1%. In the Telecom space, Tata Communication was up 1.7%. In other space, Tata Motors gained 5.5%, Dr Reddys was down 0.11% and Sterlite was unchanged.
Tomorrow, economic news will be limited to the weekly initial claims and the second estimate of first quarter GDP which will be reported at 8:30 ET while April pending home sales will be announced at 10:00 ET.
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