Stock Market News for September 23, 2010 - Market News

U.S. stocks took a breather, with the Dow industrials dropping for the first time in six days, as investors reassessed the Fed’s announcement that it would do more to stimulate the economy. Lack of economic data, a cautious revenue outlook from Adobe Systems and Microsoft’s dividend announcement also weighed on investors’ minds.

Gold and Treasury prices rallied as investors shied away from stocks. The Dow industrials dropped nearly 22 points, or 0.2%, on Wednesday. The blue-chip index is up 7.5% in September, a month considered weak for stocks. The widely tracked Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index dropped almost 6 points, or 0.5%, to 1,134.28. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed with a drop of nearly 15 points, or 0.6%, at 2,334.55 as its technology components witnessed weakness. On the New York Stock Exchange, volume declined slightly as declining stocks outpaced advancing shares by a three-to-two margin.

Gold prices jumped to a record high of $1298 an ounce before giving up some ground to settle at $1292.10. The US dollar, meanwhile, continued lower amid talks the Fed would buy bonds to pump in money into the economy. The Japanese yen strengthened against the greenback.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) saw a sharp drop in its shares yesterday after the company said its current-quarter revenue would fall short of expectations. Shares fell nearly 19% to $26.67. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was another notable decliner yesterday. Its shares fell 2.2% and led the Dow average lower after the firm said it was raising its quarterly dividend to 16 cents a share from 13 cents a share. Chipmaker PMC Sierra (NASDAQ:PMCS), not a Dow component, added to concerns with its lowered revenue guidance that suggested a maximum sales number of $163 million, below estimates of $173.5 million.

While technology shares felt the heat of Adobe’s subdued revenue outlook, Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) appeared unfazed. Its shares gained 1% after media reports said the company could unveil its Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad rival as soon as next week. Financials also weakened with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) shedding 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively. However, a 4.7% jump in Alcoa’s (NYSE:AA) shares helped temper the losses.

Technology firms’ dour views came alongside financial firms’ weakened outlooks. The KBW Bank Index fell 1.8%. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) shares fell 4.3% and Goldman Sachs’ (NYSE:GS) dropped 2.2% after Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) lowered third quarter earnings outlook, citing weakness in trading revenue. Jefferies’ (NYSE:JEF) fell 5.2% reported guidance that also disappointed.

The flight to safety sent the yield on the 10-year note to 2.56% from 2.58% late Tuesday. The 2-year fell 1/32 in price, ahead of today’s 11:00 ET announcement of next week’s auctions of 2-, 5-, and 7-year bonds.

Stock Market News for September 23, 2010 – Market News

SIGN UP TO NEWSLETTER

Free E-Book

Recent Posts