US close: Dow, S&P 500 fall for fifth straight day on budget concerns

LONDON (ShareCast) - - Budget talks in focus ahead of October 1st deadline
- Largely neutral economic data
- Carnival (LSE: CCL.L - news) extends losses after gloomy Q3 results, outlook

Dow Jones Industrials: -0.40%
Nasdaq Composite: -0.19%
S&P 500: -0.26%

Wall Street benchmarks ended Wednesday's session slightly lower with the Dow Jones (DJI: ^DJI - news) and S&P 500 finishing in the red for the fifth straight day as investors continued to view budget negotiations in Washington with caution.

Markets are hoping that politicians can agree on a extension to the current debt-ceiling limit of $16.7tn ahead of the deadline on Tuesday October 1st to avoid a government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins.

"It looks like it is politics that are once again driving what equity markets are doing, and this time it is US politicians who are unsettling markets with their unerring capability of turning a drama into a crisis," said Senior Market Analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets.
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"We saw this play out in 2011 and it looks like history is repeating itself as continued political bickering over the raising of the debt ceiling is understandably making investors nervous in what is becoming a classic case of d?j? vu."

However, while many believe that the a deal in Congress will eventually be made to 'kick the can further down the road', Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said that investor confidence in a deal to raise the limit is probably "greater than it should be". He said: "People have to take seriously that Congress has a lot of work to do in a short period of time."

Markets were also digesting a raft of economic figures today as investors continue to consider what each piece of data means for the outlook for monetary policy in the aftermath of last week's decision by the Federal Reserve to hold on to stimulus.

Given that data since the surprise decision on September 18th has come in mixed and Fed officials continue to give conflicting comments, equity markets have been rather directionless in recent days and continue to see-saw back and forth, according to CMC's Senior Sales Trader Nick Dale-Lace.

He said: "Good news used to mean good news for the markets, then it became bad news, and now we find ourselves having no idea what it might mean in the short term as policies and their possible effect on the market become ever more muddied."

Carnival hits the rocks

Carnival declined as Morgan Stanley (Xetra: 885836 - news) cut its recommendation to 'underweight' from 'equal weight' after the cruise line operator reported a decline in third-quarter income and gave a gloomy outlook as it continues to feel the effects of last year's sinking of the Costa Concordia ship off the coast of Italy.

Noble (NYSE: NE - news) rallied after the offshore rig contractor said it will turn about half its fleet into a separate company to focus on its higher-priced rigs in deeper waters.

Retail group JC Penney (NYSE: JCP - news) dropped 15% after an analyst at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) said that te company's liquidity levels in the third quarter will be challenged by "weak fundamentals, inventory rebuilding and an underperforming home department". The stock feel to $10.12, its worst level since December 2000.

Orthopedic devices group Stryker announced it is to buy Mako Surgical Corp (NasdaqGS: MAKO - news) for $1.65bn for $30 a share, an 86% premium to the latter's closing price on Tuesday. Shares in the Mako, the robotic-assisted surgery technology firm, jumped by over 80%.

Largely neutral economic data

US durable goods orders rose by 0.1% over the month in August, versus the drop of 0.2% which was expected. However, the previous month?s change was revised down to show a fall of 8.1% month-on-month, instead of the 7.3% drop initially reported.

Even so, the key non-defence capital goods, excluding aircraft, orders series showed a 1.5% rise on the month - a solid outcome.

US existing home sales rose to an annualised rate of 421,000 in August, versus the 420,000 expected by economists.

Figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed US mortgage applications for the week ended September 20th increased by 5.5% following a gain of 11.2% in the previous week.

S&P 500 - Risers
Seagate Technology Plc (STX (KSE: 011810.KS - news) ) $43.87 +4.95%
Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE: GNW - news) . (GNW) $12.73 +3.92%
Gannett Co. Inc (NYSE: GCI - news) . (GCI) $26.67 +3.57%
First Solar Inc (Xetra: A0LEKM - news) . (FSLR) $40.39 +3.46%
SAIC Inc (NYSE: SAI - news) . (SAI) $15.73 +3.35%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $59.72 +3.19%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $214.01 +2.90%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD - news) . (AMD) $3.91 +2.89%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $62.63 +2.77%
JP Morgan Chase (Other OTC: JFTTL - news) & Co. (JPM) $51.70 +2.74%

S&P 500 - Fallers
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP (Taiwan OTC: 4747.TWO - news) ) $10.12 -14.96%
Baxter International Inc (NYSE: BAX - news) . (BAX) $66.70 -6.40%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $32.70 -5.33%
Carmax Inc (NYSE: KMX - news) . (KMX) $49.80 -3.84%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $35.57 -3.16%
Iron Mountain Inc (NYSE: IRM - news) . (IRM) $28.03 -3.11%
Stryker Corp. (SYK) $68.79 -2.88%
PVH Corp (NYSE: PVH - news) .

(PVH) $119.75 -2.72%
Hospira Inc (NYSE: HSP - news) . (HSP) $39.15 -2.66%
Zimmer Holdings Inc (NYSE: ZMH - news) . (ZMH) $81.70 -2.54%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $51.70 +2.74%
Cisco Systems Inc (NasdaqGS: CSCO - news) . (CSCO) $24.43 +1.20%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $21.40 +0.75%
Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA - news) . (AA) $8.33 +0.36%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $14.14 +0.35%
Merck & Co. Inc (Xetra: A0YD8Q - news) . (MRK) $47.67 +0.29%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $64.45 +0.20%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $32.51 +0.15%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $85.98 +0.13%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $59.32 +0.00%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $74.65 -1.45%
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ - news) (JNJ) $87.08 -1.29%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $77.72 -1.14%
Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE - news) . (PFE) $28.49 -0.77%
Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT - news) . (CAT (Taiwan OTC: 4990.TWO - news) ) $84.50 -0.72%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $46.94 -0.69%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $75.52 -0.68%
United Technologies Corp (NYSE: UTX - news) . (UTX) $109.26 -0.67%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $38.33 -0.52%
3M Co. (MMM) $120.20 -0.50%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $43.87 +4.95%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $59.72 +3.19%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $62.63 +2.77%
Garmin Ltd (NasdaqGS: GRMN - news) . (GRMN) $45.17 +2.58%
Applied Materials Inc (NasdaqGS: AMAT - news) . (AMAT) $17.84 +2.26%
Charter Communications Inc (NasdaqGS: CHTR - news) . (CHTR) $134.01 +2.18%
Facebook Inc (NasdaqGS: FB - news) . (FB) $49.46 +2.08%
Tesla Motors Inc (Xetra: A1CX3T - news) (TSLA) $185.24 +1.59%
Randgold Resources Ltd. Ads (GOLD) $72.64 +1.54%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $24.43 +1.20%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc (Xetra: 887856 - news) . (GMCR) $75.82 -4.41%
Amgen Inc (Xetra: 867900 - news) . (AMGN) $112.48 -2.00%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc (NasdaqGS: MXIM - news) . (MXIM) $29.47 -1.90%
eBay Inc. (EBAY (NasdaqGS: EBAY - news) ) $54.21 -1.74%
Gilead Sciences Inc (NasdaqGS: GILD - news) . (GILD) $61.73 -1.61%
Apple Inc (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) . (AAPL) $481.53 -1.55%
Fossil Group Inc (NasdaqGS: FOSL - news) (FOSL) $116.24 -1.49%
Microchip Technology Inc (NasdaqGS: MCHP - news) . (MCHP) $40.35 -1.47%
Mattel Inc (NasdaqGS: MAT - news) . (MAT) $42.13 -1.45%
Nuance Communications Inc (NasdaqGS: NUAN - news) . (NUAN) $18.89 -1.36%

BC

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-close-dow-p-500-070800346.html

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