While the markets started off strong, investors ended up with just another disappointing performance.
China got the bulls started by cutting its rates last night for the first time in four years to prevent economic growth from stalling out in the Middle Kingdom. And then Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony in front of Congress put the markets under a cold shower. After Dennis Lockhart, the president of the Atlanta Fed, made comments that "further monetary actions to support the recovery will certainly need to be considered," hope for a decisive plan during today's testimony skyrocketed. Bernanke is clearly unhappy with the economy, yet he doesn't appear ready to put on his Superman cape and save the day. Not all hope is lost for near-term support from the Fed, though, as there will be another meeting later this month.
That said, let's take a closer look at where the three major indexes closed and drill down on a few stocks dominating the headlines.
Index |
Gain / Loss |
Gain / Loss % |
Ending Value |
---|---|---|---|
Dow Jones Industrial Average |
46.17 | 0.37% | 12,460.96 |
Nasdaq | (13.70) | (0.48%) | 2,831.02 |
S&P 500 | (0.14) | (0.01%) | 1,314.99 |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
The Dow had been up 140 points intraday before retreating to its modest gain; however, it outperformed the Nasdaq's nearly half-percentage-point decline. The biggest news item on the Dow belonged to health-care component Pfizer
In related news, Molina Healthcare's
Pharmacyclics
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