Weak global economic conditions and a downgrade of Well Fargo by prominent banking analyst Richard Bove spooked investors even as Morgan Stanley and Yahoo reported better-than-expected earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped below the 10,000 level yesterday as markets pulled back in the final hour of trading.
Bove of Rochdale Securities said earnings at Well Fargo (NYSE:WFC) were helped by mortgage-servicing fees rather than improving business trends, and trimmed his rating on the bank to “sell” from “hold.” However, Well Fargo and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), which reported its first quarterly profit in a year, were behind the market’s strength earlier in the session. Bove also cited accelerating loan losses at the firm for the downgrade. After Bove’s cut, FBR slashed its rating on the firm to “underperform,” questioning Well Fargo’s earnings quality.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell below the psychologically important 10,000 level, declining 92.12 points, or 0.9%, to close at 9949.36. Earlier in the session, the index had risen to as high as 10,119.47. The broader S&P 500 index declined 9.66 points, or 0.9%, to 1081.40 and the tech-laden Nasdaq was off 12.74 points, or 0.6%, to 2150.73. The Treasury’s 10-year note fell 12/32, to 101 31/32. The yield rose to 3.39%, from 3.34% late Tuesday.
Meanwhile, China said its economy grew 8.9% during the third quarter, up from 7.9% in the second quarter and 6.1% in the first.
Eight of the ten S&P500 sectors finished lower, led by declines in consumer services (-1.8%), financials (-1.8%), health care (-1.4%) and industrials (-0.9%). Utilities remained flat, and telecommunications edged up 0.01%. Selling was broad-based. The weakness in financial sector saw shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) each declining at least 2.9%. Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) led the Dow average lower, declining 3.1% to $32.68.
The greenback fell to fresh 12-month lows against a basket of currencies, falling through $1.50 against the euro for the first time in 14 months. The greenback’s fall sent crude prices higher, with prices touching an intraday high of $82 yesterday, its highest since October 9, 2008. Government inventory figures showed a large drawdown in US gasoline stockpiles to 2.3 million barrels last week – more than the 800,000 anticipated. Price cuts from Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) also dampened holiday sales hopes. Wal-Mart declined 2.1% to $50.63.
Today’s calendar covers another heavy dose of corporate reports including before-the-open releases from: 3M (NYSE:MMM), Black & Decker (NYSE:BDK), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY), Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW), McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), Schering-Plough (NYSE:SGP), and UPS (NYSE:UPS). Also reporting are American Express (NYSE:AXP), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), and AT&T (NYSE:T).
