By Kate Gibson
U.S. stocks fell steeply Thursday, with the S&P 500 Index
running into resistance at its 200-day moving average and Wall
Street digesting Fed talk of deflation and a still-sluggish labor
market.
"The market is dealing with a bunch of conflicting signals,"
said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak.
"The markets are becoming more cautious again as we get to the
upper trading range on a great earnings season," said Bruce McCain,
chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank.
U.S. economic data remains soft, and while the morning's
better-than-expected drop in weekly jobless claims was positive,
the labor market remains "sluggish," said Boockvar.
"We're still adding jobs, but not to the point that we should be
at this point in the recovery," Boockvar said.
After snapping a four-day win streak Wednesday, the Dow Jones
Industrial Average (DJI) fell 71.52 points, or 0.7%, to 10,426.36,
with all but one of its 30 components in the red, led by food maker
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT), off 2.5%.
Reversing course, shares of Dow component Exxon Mobil Corp.
(XOM) were off 0.7% after the oil giant reported a near-doubling of
second-quarter income. .
The S&P 500 Index (SPX) fell 11.45 points, or 0.9%, to
1,094.68, with utility and consumer shares fronting losses that
reached across all 10 of its industry groups.
Among the index's more noteworthy movers, shares of Citrix
Systems Inc. (CTXS) surged 17% after the provider of software and
equipment for computer business systems late Wednesday projected a
stronger-than-expected quarter and year.
In the financial sector, Ameriprise Financial Inc. (AMP) rallied
almost 10%. Late Wednesday, the investment manager reported a
near-tripling of profit in the second quarter.
On the downside, Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) shares fell 12%
after the provider of services to online entertainment companies
offered a disappointing outlook. Akamai shares had climbed more
than 30% in the past three months on the belief that it would
profit from demand for online media.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) shed 33.01 points, or 1.5%, to
2,231.55.
More than two stocks fell for every one on the rise on the New
York Stock Exchange, where volume neared 412 million at 12:40 p.m.
Eastern.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard warned
against a Japan-style deflationary trap stemming from the central
bank's extended period of low interest rates in a paper released
Thursday.
The moderately hawkish Bullard noted that the 'extended period'
language "is a double-edged sword that could cause a drop in
inflation and inflation expectations, suggesting that the Fed buy
more Treasuries instead to avoid turning Japanese," wrote analysts
at Action Economics.
Still, Bullard told reporters he would not dissent against the
policy language, the analysts added.
Ahead of Wall Street's start, stock futures added slightly to
their earnings-inspired rise after the government said initial
claims for unemployment benefits fell modestly, with the count
slightly better than analysts had projected. .