Thursday 3 July 2008

Dow sinks as oil jumps

The respite for US stock investors didn't last very long. Reuters reports the latest stock market performance.

The Dow sank into a bear market on Wednesday after a report showed U.S. private employers cut the most jobs in nearly six years and oil shot to another record, increasing concerns about the health of the economy and corporate profits...

Nervousness abounded a day before the key monthly jobs report after data released on Wednesday showed U.S. private employers slashed 79,000 jobs in June, the biggest monthly private payroll reduction since November 2002. The ADP data raised expectations for an even more disappointing payrolls report...

The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 166.75 points, or 1.46 percent, to 11,215.51...

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 23.39 points, or 1.82 percent, to close at 1,261.52, while the Nasdaq Composite Index slid 53.51 points, or 2.32 percent, to end at 2,251.46...

The ADP's employment report aside, Wednesday's data brought some brighter news as well, with a boost in demand for aircraft lifting new orders at U.S. factories by an unexpectedly large 0.6 percent in May.

U.S. crude for August delivery jumped to a record $144.32 a barrel.

Hindsight will probably tell us that the US stock market started the second leg of a bear market in May.

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