Bad News Pummels Stocks

New crude record hampers recovery from Thursday's fall

(NEWSER) - The markets fell today, continuing the slide that marked yesterday’s session. Investors continued to mull the tidal wave of bad news that hit the financial, tech and consumer discretionary sectors Thursday, MarketWatch reports. The Dow fell 104.46 to 11,348.96, the Nasdaq lost 5.74 to close at 2,315.63, and the S&P 500 dropped 4.68, closing at 1,278.47. More»

Investors predict payroll gains for March

(NEWSER) - Gains in financial stocks kept the markets afloat today. Both AIG and Citigroup closed up, in part because of a successful offering of $2 billion in trust preferred securities, the Wall Street Journal reports.

• The Dow gained 2.95 points to close at 10,567.33.
• The Nasdaq added 18.27 to settle at 2,358.95.
• The S&P 500 rose 5.17, closing at 1,145.61.

Fear of Sept. stock pullback drives gold to 6-month high

(NEWSER) - Stocks jumped today on the strength of blue-chip financials after mostly idling. Volume was low as investors waited for the government’s monthly employment report, due tomorrow, the Wall Street Journal reports. AIG and Citigroup rose, while safe-haven buying pushed gold to almost to $1,000 an ounce, a level not seen since February. The Dow rose 63.94 points to close at 9,344.61. The Nasdaq added 16.13 to close at 1,983.20, and the S&P 500 rose 8.49 to settle at 1,003.24. More»

Indices manage to hold on to weekly gains despite Friday dip

(NEWSER) - Stocks fell today, though not enough to offset broad-based weekly gains, the Wall Street Journal reports. Financials dropped, in part due to comments by JP Morgan Chase CEO James Dimon, who said the bank had more trouble in March than in the first 2 months of the year. JP Morgan and Citigroup both dropped 5%. The Dow lost 148.70 points to close at 7,776.18. The Nasdaq fell 41.80 points, settling at 1,545.20, and the S&P 500 dropped 16.92 points, closing at 815.94. More»

Caution follows yesterday's rally

(NEWSER) - Stocks finished below today’s session highs but closed with slight gains, barely making the first two-day winning streak in a month, the Wall Street Journal reports. Financials mostly gained, with shares of Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America up at least 4%. The Dow closed up 3.91 at 6,930.40. The Nasdaq rose 13.36 to 1,371.64, and the S&P 500 gained 1.76, settling at 721.36. More»