The bond market called it quits early today (beating holiday traffic!), but not before seeing a rise in treasuries as large investors hedge their positions ahead of the long weekend. With Europe in crisis, money managers sensibly want to avoid unnecessary equity exposure in case something major happens on Monday in the international markets. However, this has led to a malaise-filled day in the markets resulting in very little movement.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at how the major indexes are faring and drill down on a few stocks making headlines.

Index

Gain/Loss

Gain/Loss %

Intraday Value

Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) (67.66) (0.54%) 12,462.09
Nasdaq (INDEX: ^IXIC) (1.49) (0.05%) 2,837.89
S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC) (2.36) (0.18%) 1,318.32

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

All three major indexes are down, with the Nasdaq holding up the best. The Dow's sell-off is larger than one would anticipate given its roughly even split of winners and losers, but the top decliners make up some of the index's most heavily weighted companies. Chevron (NYSE: CVX) with its 6% weighting is moving the opposite direction of oil prices and the energy sector as its shares decline 1.4%, while Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) with its 5.5% weighting is down 1.4%, despite a renewed interest in infrastructure stimulus in China.

Next week, we have a boatload of economic data, including new unemployment numbers, so expect volatility to return as May draws to a close. In the meantime, have a fun and safe holiday weekend.

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