Dow dropped 41, decliners over advancers 5-2 & NAZ fell 16. Bank stocks were lower, taking the Financial Index down a fraction to 190 (25 below its recent highs). The MLP index fell another 1 to the 376s, last seen in Dec, & the REIT index dropped 1+ to 251 (13 below its yearly highs). Junk bond funds eased back & Treasuries rose with the yield on the 10 year Treasury at 1.75%, near its record lows. Oil rose on worries that Iran will get nuclear weapons & gold was higher on the same threat.
Photo: Yahoo
New claims for unemployment benefits were unchanged last week. Initial claims held steady at 370K according to the Labor Dept, above the forecast of 367K. The prior week's figure was revised up to 370K from the previously reported 367K. The 4-week moving average for new claims fell 4K to 375K. The data comes on the heels of 3 straight months of slowing employment gains. Companies added 115K new jobs in Apr, the fewest in 6 months. Still some think the Apr report gave an overly dim view of the economy, & pin the pull-back in job creation as payback for a mild winter that boosted gains in prior months. The Federal Reserve appears disinclined to ramp up its support for the economy anytime soon unless the recovery stumbles & minutes from its latest meeting supported that view.
Jobless Claims in U.S. Were Unchanged at 370,000 Last Week
Photo: Bloomberg
The leaders of the 2 biggest parties in Greece clashed over how the country could stay in the euro, underscoring the political deadlock that triggered the decision to hold a 2nd national vote in 6 weeks. The conflict between Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, who opposes the austerity demanded by the EU bailout, & Antonis Samaras, leader of New Democracy, points to the Jun 17 vote as a referendum on Greece staying in the 17-nation currency bloc. The new vote follows inconclusive elections on May 6 that propelled Syriza into 2nd place. Opinion polls say Syriza may come in first next time, complicating Greece’s efforts to avoid running out of cash by early Jul. “Greece’s membership of the euro is not endangered by Syriza,” Tsipras said. “It is endangered by the bankrupt policies of the bailout.” The political standoff has reignited concern the country will renege on pledges to cut spending as required by the 2 separate rescue packages worth €240B ($306B) which could lead to funding being cut off & Greece ultimately leaving the euro area. Greece’s benchmark ASE Index fell 2.6% to 541, its lowest level since 1990. Greece is shaping up as a disaster.
Greece Heads to Elections With Euro, Bailout at Stake
Today Spain sold the maximum amount of debt targeted as borrowing costs rose & 10-year bond yields approached levels that drove nations including Greece & Portugal into bailouts. It sold €2.49B ($3.2B) of debt as the yield on notes maturing in Jul 2015 rose to 4.876% from 4.037% at the last auction 2 weeks ago. Spanish 10-year bond yields eased after the auction to 6.334%, remaining near the 7% mark that pushed the other countries toward European rescue packages. Prime Minister Rajoy said yesterday that Spain faces the “serious risk” of losing access to debt markets & called on European institutions for support. The Treasury is trying to sell bonds after foreign investors’ share of the nation’s debt fell to the lowest since 2003. Spanish banks picked up the slack with the help of emergency funding from the ECB. Meanwhile a recently nationalized bank's shares plummeted after a newspaper said depositors were rushing to withdraw money, while the country paid sharply higher interest rates in a debt auction. Spain's 4th-largest lender, Bankia insisted its depositors' money was safe, while the gov denied there was a run on the bank. This clearly is another looming financial mess weighing on the global stock markets
Rajoy Risks Bailout Yields in Trial of Spain’s Funding
This is turning into another dismal day for the markets. Jobless claims data was mediocre, but Euro debt concerns are weighing most heavily on the markets. Apple (AAPL), the darling in the markets, dropped another 6+ to below 540 which is making the success of the IPO for Facebook (FB) tonight a little less certain. That IPO should give a lift to the markets, but I'm not sure. Dow is down almost 850 from its recent high.
JPMorgan Chase Capital XVI (AMJ)
Treasury yields:
U.S. 3-month | 0.092% | |
U.S. 2-year | 0.286% | |
U.S. 10-year | 1.740% |
| CLM12.NYM | ...Crude Oil Jun 12 | ...93.25 | .... 0.44 | (0.5%) |
| GCK12.CMX | ...Gold May 12 | ....1,556.20 | ... 20.00 | (1.3%) |
Get the latest daily market update below:
New claims for unemployment benefits were unchanged last week. Initial claims held steady at 370K according to the Labor Dept, above the forecast of 367K. The prior week's figure was revised up to 370K from the previously reported 367K. The 4-week moving average for new claims fell 4K to 375K. The data comes on the heels of 3 straight months of slowing employment gains. Companies added 115K new jobs in Apr, the fewest in 6 months. Still some think the Apr report gave an overly dim view of the economy, & pin the pull-back in job creation as payback for a mild winter that boosted gains in prior months. The Federal Reserve appears disinclined to ramp up its support for the economy anytime soon unless the recovery stumbles & minutes from its latest meeting supported that view.
Jobless Claims in U.S. Were Unchanged at 370,000 Last Week
The leaders of the 2 biggest parties in Greece clashed over how the country could stay in the euro, underscoring the political deadlock that triggered the decision to hold a 2nd national vote in 6 weeks. The conflict between Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, who opposes the austerity demanded by the EU bailout, & Antonis Samaras, leader of New Democracy, points to the Jun 17 vote as a referendum on Greece staying in the 17-nation currency bloc. The new vote follows inconclusive elections on May 6 that propelled Syriza into 2nd place. Opinion polls say Syriza may come in first next time, complicating Greece’s efforts to avoid running out of cash by early Jul. “Greece’s membership of the euro is not endangered by Syriza,” Tsipras said. “It is endangered by the bankrupt policies of the bailout.” The political standoff has reignited concern the country will renege on pledges to cut spending as required by the 2 separate rescue packages worth €240B ($306B) which could lead to funding being cut off & Greece ultimately leaving the euro area. Greece’s benchmark ASE Index fell 2.6% to 541, its lowest level since 1990. Greece is shaping up as a disaster.
Greece Heads to Elections With Euro, Bailout at Stake
Prime Minister Rajoy
Photo: Bloomberg
Rajoy Risks Bailout Yields in Trial of Spain’s Funding
This is turning into another dismal day for the markets. Jobless claims data was mediocre, but Euro debt concerns are weighing most heavily on the markets. Apple (AAPL), the darling in the markets, dropped another 6+ to below 540 which is making the success of the IPO for Facebook (FB) tonight a little less certain. That IPO should give a lift to the markets, but I'm not sure. Dow is down almost 850 from its recent high.
Dow Industrials
Get your favorite symbols' Trend Analysis TODAY!
No comments:
Post a Comment