Posted on 03/29/2003 11:39:41 AM PST by TLBSHOW
Gloomy outlook hits Wall Street March 30 2003
As the reality of war sinks in, the sharemarket roller-coaster takes a dive, writes Richard Webb.
Growing concern that the war with Iraq will last months rather than weeks sent the US sharemarket lower for the third consecutive day in New York on Friday night.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 5.04 points, or 0.6 per cent, to a close of 863.48. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 55.68 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 8145.77, while the Nasdaq Composite index shed 14.73 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 1369.52.
In other news, the $A sneaked above 60 US cents, gold rallied, but copper fell to near a three-month low.
Crude oil also fell on speculation that Iraqi oil exports would resume soon, after the United Nations activated a program that will use money from recent Iraqi oil sales to buy food and medicine for the country. Crude closed 21 US cents lower at $US30.16 a barrel.
European sharemarkets were generally lower, and finished more than 4 per cent down for the week.
News that US consumer spending had fallen for the second consecutive month in February also hurt Wall Street. Market watchers said US consumers appeared to be cutting back due to uncertainty over the war.
"People aren't willing to spend money and make decisions," said Forrest Armstrong, of Compass Bank Asset Management.
About 1.21 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, 12 per cent below the three-month daily average. Seven stocks rose for every six that fell on the NYSE and 11 declined for every 10 that advanced on the Nasdaq.
For the week, the S&P 500 fell 3.6 per cent, the Dow fell 4.4 per cent and the Nasdaq 3.7 per cent.
The $A nudged higher in New York, finishing at 60.10 US cents and 1.8 per cent higher for the week, as the $US continued to slide against most world currencies.
European sharemarkets were generally lower on Friday. The London FTSE 100 fell 0.6 per cent to finish 4 per cent lower for the week, the German DAX fell 2.4 per cent to finish 7.2 per cent lower, while the French CAC 40 gained 0.4 per cent but ended 5.5 per cent below its previous Friday close.
Gold added $US2.60 to $US331.95 an ounce as investors continued to buy or sell in line with war expectations - if they are worried, they buy, but if it looks like it will be over quickly, they sell
- with Bloomberg
The numbers are accurate enough, but why do these people who write about the stock market for a living have to say things like: the price edged up 600 today, or the price plummeted 10 today? Or the market skyrocketed 5 today, or the market softened 500 today?
Why is that? Did they really want to be sportscasters, color commentators?
.8% gain = "Gold Rallied up on War News"
hmmm ... I guess they report, you decide! ROFLMAO
The basic reason for a bull market in gold (if it resumes) is weakness in the dollar, weakness in the stock market, and enormous, continually growing balance of payment deficits.
Sure, gold has bounced up and down about 60 points in the past few weeks, mostly on pure emotions: fear, greed, and credulous belief in these silly explanations.
You, Sir, are 100% correct!
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