Two-thirds of the companies on the NYSE traded lower today, possibly a sign that investors are pulling back on expectations of a slight market correction tomorrow, when payroll figures are released. All indications are pointing toward a negative nonfarm payrolls report, possibly setting up a selloff to close out the week. Yesterday, we saw private-sector hiring come in at a seven-month low, and that was followed by today's services-sector index reporting a lower-than-expected reading of 53.3.
The Dow Jones Industrials
Among Dow stocks, Intel was down 1.42%, with retailers thinking second-quarter demand may be lower than originally anticipated if consumers hold off on computer purchases until after Microsoft releases Windows 8.
Alcoa
Coca-Cola, meanwhile, bucked the day's trend and steadily increased its share price, closing up 0.36%. Reports making the rounds say Coca-Cola backed out of its talks to take over Monster Beverage
Around the market's close today, we got a big announcement that the staring price for Facebook's IPO will be between between $28 and $35. That amount would raise about $13.6 billion, enough to make it the biggest U.S company at the time of its original IPO.
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