DJ30 PointChange: -100.13 Level: 11766.26 NASDAQ PointChange: -32.19 Level: 2523.14 NQ100 PercentChange: -1.0 R2K PercentChange: -1.9 SP400 PercentChange: -1.7 SP500 PointChange: -14.31 Level: 1205.35 NASDAQ-Adv:569 Dec: 2026 NYSE-Adv:644 Dec: 2386
BRIEFING.COM]
Modest broad market gains in the early going were undermined by a weak
financial sector, which tumbled more than 2% to drag the rest of the
stock market to a new December low.
News flow was lacking this morning, leaving market participants with
few trading cues, let alone actual catalysts. In turn, stocks took their
direction from Europe's bourses, which were initially bid higher.
However, support for Europe's bourses waned into their close. Soured
sentiment there exacerbated selling in an already weak financial sector,
which continues to wrestle with concerns about the exposure of banks
and financial services firms to the precarious financial and economic
conditions of Europe. News that European Finance Ministers have agreed
to provide 150 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund did
nothing to assuage concerns.
Financials likely suffered from some forced selling after shares of Bank of America (BAC
4.99, -0.21) broke below $5 per share to set its lowest level in more
than two years. As a group, financials fell 2.3%, which is worse than
what any other sector had suffered. The highly influential sector now
sits at its lowest level since the end of November. Such weakness
weighed heavily on broader market trade, causing the major equity
averages to close at new December lows.
The dollar did little during the day, but ultimately ended the
session about 0.3% for the better. Interest in the currency picked up
into the close.
Treasuries continued their climb, albeit modestly. The bid came
despite results from an auction of 2-year Notes that suggested demand
had weakened since a series of auctions for longer-term Notes last week.
The auction today drew a bid-to-cover of 3.45, dollar demand of $120.8
billion, and an indirect bidder rate of 21.6%.
Participation today was unimpressive, resulting in very little share
volume. That's likely owed to the absence of trading catalysts and
traders, who are beginning to leave their desks for the holiday season.
Advancing Sectors: (None)
Declining Sectors:
Health Care -0.3%, Consumer Staples -0.4%, Telecom -0.7%, Utilities
-0.8%, Tech -1.1%, Industrials -1.1%, Consumer Discretionary -1.2%,
Energy -1.7%, Materials -1.9%, Financials -2.3%
Source: Briefing