Ao minuto: Petróleo afunda 7% após ataque do Irão ser encarado como simbólico

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Dow -2, Nasdaq +2, S&P -0.09:
As of: Jul 29 2003 1:30PM ET
Major indices continue to hover around the unchanged mark following their turnaround off the morning lows... The indices' ability to maintain their much improved stance - despite lack of a confirmation to the Saddam Hussein rumors - speaks to the underlying bullish sentiment of the market... Although the indices have been locked in trading ranges for most of the past month, their ability to trade at levels near the peak of the mid-March advance suggests that stocks are poised for further upside over the long-term... Forecasts of stronger economic growth in the latter portion of the year have not been altered as a result of the weak Consumer Confidence report... The latter, in fact, is merely a read on consumer sentiment and not indicative of current economic conditions...

[Figas]

Dow -16, Nasdaq -2, S&P -1.68:
As of: Jul 29 2003 1:00PM ET
The stock market pares its losses once again, although it remains unable to make any headway against the unchanged mark... Specifically, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 have both crossed into positive territory in the past hour, but have been unable to stay within that area as their respective flat lines have proven to be formidable points of resistance... Selling pressure has been steady, and far-reaching, in industries as diverse as oil driller, large-cap technology issues, and gold... The price of gold has fallen $2.90, to $368.80/oz, and precipitated the drop in the gold issues... The latter has weakened as the dollar has climbed against the euro, diminishing some of its investment appeal...

[Figas]

Dow -31, Nasdaq -4, S&P -3.22:
As of: Jul 29 2003 12:30PM ET
The rally attempt loses steam, as the major indices hold steady in modestly negative territory... The technology, homebuilding, and financial sectors perked up the most on talk of Saddam Hussein's capture, and took with them other influential areas such as retail and biotech... Although the indices are much improved from their earlier standing, the breadth figures continue to sport a negative bias with decliners outpacing advancers by a respectable margin at the NYSE and Nasdaq... The treasury market has also maintained a cautious stance, with the 10-year note down 11 ticks, bringing its yield to 4.33%...

[Figas]

Dow -19, Nasdaq -2, S&P -1.56:
As of: Jul 29 2003 12:05PM ET
A topsy turvy stock market in the morning session, as a weaker than expected July Consumer Confidence index sent the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 spiraling into negative territory by more than 99, 22, and 12 points respectively, while unconfirmed rumors of a Saddam Hussein capture has incited a short-covering rally in the past half hour... As they stand now, the major indices have recovered the bulk of their losses, and are trading slightly below the unchanged mark... Turning to the early action, the culprit of the earlier sell-off was the drop in the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence report... The diffused index slumped to its lowest level in four months, at 76.6 (consensus of 85.0), and missed the consensus estimate of 85.0... A sharp pullback in the key current conditions and expectations components accounted for most of the decline, and reflected consumer concerns about the labor market... The substantial increase in the June employment rate - to 6.4% for a nine-year high - exacerbated investor worries about the soft employment picture, and led traders to lock profits in some of the mid-March advance's strongest groups... Specifically, technology paced the stock market's broad-based retreat, along with other influential groups such as financial, retail, and biotech sectors... However, the aforementioned Saddam trading-floor rumors have driven the recent recovery effort, with renewed buying interest in many of the weakest groups of the morning...

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Dow -76, Nasdaq -15, S&P -9.06:
As of: Jul 29 2003 11:30AM ET
Selling activity stabilizes somewhat as the indices lift off their worst levels of the day... The dollar, in turn, has pared most of its losses on the back of the weaker than expected Consumer Confidence report, and the treasury market has also given back some of its gains... As for stocks, technology remains the largest laggard on the indices' upside movement, along with sizable losses in other influential sectors such as apparel, financial, and biotech... Given such widespread participation from an industry, and market-cap perspective, it remains to be seen if the market will make much headway from its sharply lower levels...

[Figas]

Dow -83, Nasdaq -18, S&P -9.77:
As of: Jul 29 2003 11:00AM ET
Equity market continues to fall deeper into negative territory as sellers assume control over the morning's proceedings... Market internals reflect the bearish disposition of the action, with decliners outpacing advancers by more than a 2-to-1 margin at the Nasdaq and NYSE... The source of the market's malaise continues to be the weaker than expected Consumer Confidence index for July, which brought concerns about the beleaguered labor market back to the surface... Briefing.com would point out, however, that the Conference Board's reading generally reflects the prior month's conditions, and that weekly jobless claims have improved over the past two weeks... Specifically, initial claims have dropped by 55K, with the last reading of 386K ending a 22-week string of jobless claims above the critical 400K level... Nonetheless, the drop-off in Consumer Confidence has provided traders an ample opportunity to book profits, and they have made high-flying areas such as technology their main targets...

[Figas]

Dow -72, Nasdaq -18, S&P -9.61:
As of: Jul 29 2003 10:30AM ET
Traders continue to unload positions following the sharp drop in the July Consumer Confidence report... The Conference Board's index slumped to its lowest reading in four months, at 76.6 (consensus of 85.0), as the expectations component fell (to 86.4) for the first time since the war in Iraq... The rise in the June unemployment rate to a nine-year high has renewed consumer concerns about the labor market, and business conditions as well... Such a reaction, not surprisingly, has precipated a deep pullback in the indices given the market's mid-March run on expectations of a stronger 2H03 economic environment... Momentum groups like biotech and semiconductor have led the broad-based retreat, along with financial and retail...

[Figas]

Dow -64, Nasdaq -10, S&P -7.77:
As of: Jul 29 2003 10:00AM ET
Major indices take a dive on the heels of the weaker than expected July Consumer Confidence index... Specifically, the report fell to 76.6 (consensus of 85.0) from 83.5 in July... The Dow itself has fallen noticeably below the unchanged mark, as more than half of its components are showing losses... Serving to offset some of the selling pressure, though, is McDonald's (MCD 27.71 +0.45)... The fast-food giant matched the Reuters Research consensus EPS estimate, of $0.37, in its Q2 (June) report on revenues that rose 11% to $4.28 bln... Elsewhere, the treasury market has reversed course, paring all of its losses in the early action, and is now showing gains following the drop in the Consumer Confidence index...

[Figas]

Dow +2, Nasdaq +3, S&P +0.33:
As of: Jul 29 2003 9:40AM ET
As presaged by the futures trade, the stock market starts the day on a positive note... Buying activity, however, is neither robust or broad-based at this juncture, and is instead concentrated in a few sectors... Biotech and health care issues have provided the bulk of the gains, along with modest buying interest in drug and retail... The market will gain better direction with the 10 ET release of this week's first economic report, the Consumer Confidence index for July... The market expects the reading to increase to 85.0 from 83.5 in June...