US Closing Market Report

Wall Street succumbed to a late sell-off Tuesday, dragging the Dow Jones back close to 10,000 despite some encouraging economic data.

The blue chip index trading above 10,200 after lunch as investors welcomed a 2.7% increase in US construction spending during April, the largest increase for nearly six years.

Even a drop in the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index to 59.7% in May from 60.4 the previous month was better than expected.

Stocks overcame early pressure caused by worse than anticipated data on Chinese manufacturing. China’s Purchasing Managers’ index fell to 53.9 in May from a reading of 55.7 in April.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank warned that lenders in the eurozone could face up to €195bn in a second wave of potential loan losses over the next 18 months.

Eventually, the sellers returned. Chevron and Exxon Mobil took a hiding as oil prices fell, while sentiment was soured by BP’s 15% slump. It still hasn’t figured out how to stop the leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

Across the markets, the Dow Jones ended the session down 112 points at 10,024, the Nasdaq Composite fell 34 points, or 1.5%, to 2,222, while the broad-based S&P 500 was off 18 at 1,070.

On the corporate front, the future of Prudential’s bid for AIG’s Asian business looks in disarray after the US insurer refused to renegotiate the $35.5bn offer down to nearer $30bn.

AIG is already considering other options for AIA, including floating it or retaining it as part of the group.

Hewlett-Packard announced it plans to cut 9,000 jobs and take a $1bn financial charge, while Apple rose after it said Monday that iPad sales have topped 2 million since its launch in the United States on 3 April.

Shares in BP crashed as investors reacted badly to the weekend's news that the 'top kill' attempt to block the Gulf of Mexico oil leak had failed. The oil giant's market value has now dropped by one-third or some Ł40bn since the crisis began on 20 April with the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed eleven people.

Oil services and exploration companies fell in sympathy. Anadarko Petroleum, Halliburton and Diamond Offshore Drilling were the three worst performers in the S&P.

Covidien is acquiring medical device manufacturer ev3 for $2.6bn. Bid rumours boosted the share price ofRadioshack.

Elsewhere, the Bank of Canada upped its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point to 0.5%, the first rate hike in nearly three years. The bank moved its overnight lending rate 25 basis points higher, to re-establish the “normal functioning of the overnight market,” it said in a statement.


S&P 500 - Risers
Radioshack Corp. (RSH) $21.01 +2.79%
Hershey Foods Corp. (HSY) $48.00 +2.56%
Newmont Min Corp. (NEM) $54.64 +1.52%
Limited Brands Inc. (LTD) $25.23 +1.49%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $260.31 +1.34%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Anadarko Petroleum (APC) $42.10 -19.55%
Tenet Hlthcre Corp. (THC) $4.72 -17.48%
FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $49.33 -15.17%
Halliburton Co (HAL) $21.15 -14.82%
Cameron International Corp. (CAM) $31.89 -11.91%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) $28.90 +1.05%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $58.76 +0.79%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $50.92 +0.71%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $25.89 +0.35%
AT&T Inc. (T) $24.33 +0.12%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $11.19 -3.87%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $38.54 -2.63%
Du Pont E I De Nemours and Co. (DD) $35.24 -2.57%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $59.27 -2.45%
General Electric Co. (GE) $15.98 -2.26%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $260.31 +1.34%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $53.04 +1.23%
Express Scripts Inc. (ESRX) $101.66 +1.05%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $325.36 +0.80%
Vodafone Group Plc ADR (VOD) $20.24 +0.70%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $32.14 -4.29%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $84.65 -4.13%
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $44.92 -3.65%
Seagate Technology (STX) $14.91 -2.91%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $12.58 -2.63%