Stocks stage a comeback

The Dow bounces after touching a 3-month low, amid worries about the stimulus and bank bailout plans.

EMAIL  |   PRINT  |   SHARE  |   RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
By Alexandra Twin, CNNMoney.com senior writer

marketwrap.gif
Photos
25 top-paying companies
Associates at Bingham McCutchen take home an average $256,312 total compensation annually. See which other Best Companies to Work For offer big paychecks.
How effective do you think the Geithner plan to spur lending will be?
  • It's enough to do the job
  • It's a start, but more aid will be needed
  • It won't work

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks erased losses Thursday, with the Nasdaq managing gains following reports that the Obama administration is putting together a plan to subsidize mortgages for troubled homeowners.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 6 points, or 0.1%, closing below 8,000 for the third straight session. The Dow had lost as much as 245 points in the afternoon, hitting its lowest level since Nov. 21 - considered by many pros to be the low of the bear market.

The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index added 1 point, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) gained 11 points, or 0.7%.

Questions about the bank bailout plan and economic stimulus bill dragged on stocks throughout the session. The selling gained steam after the release of a bleak report on home prices.

But stocks erased losses and the Nasdaq turned higher after reports surfaced that the Obama administration is working on a plan to modify home loans, a move that could help stabilize the flailing industry.

Still, concerns remain in place, and the stock turnaround was as much about bouncing off the multi-year levels as any policy talk.

In general, "there's just malaise and skepticism about what really needs to happen to get us out of the mess," said Paul Brigandi, vice president of trading at Direxion Funds.

He said that at some point Wall Street will have fully accounted for all the negativity and will begin to make a more sustained move higher. But at this point, the gains are just short-term rallies in a bear market.

Stocks rose Wednesday, finding momentum at the end of a choppy session, after lawmakers announced that the Senate and House had reached a compromise deal on a $789 billion economic stimulus package.

The bill is expected to be voted on by the two houses on Friday, meeting President Obama's goal of having it on his desk to sign by Monday, Presidents Day.

Enthusiasm about the bank bailout plan and the stimulus plan lifted stocks last week. But it dissipated this week.

"There was all this anticipation about the Geithner plan, and then they release this amorphous mess," said Greg Church, president of Church Capital.

He said the economic stimulus plan wasn't doing much for market psychology at the moment because a lot of its impact on the economy won't be felt until next year.

Overall, the market is reflecting "the realization that we still have a big problem and we are still not sure how to deal with it," he said.

Friday's economic report of note is the University of Michigan's February consumer sentiment index. The index is expected to have weakened to 60.2 from 61.5 in the previous month, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

Economy: Thursday morning, the National Association of Realtors said that home prices fell 12.4% in the fourth quarter of last year. The decline left prices at the lowest level since 2003.

Another report showed that unemployment claims fell last week, but remained near a 26-year high. The government reported that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell by 8,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 623,000.

The Commerce Department released its January retail sales report Thursday morning. Sales rose 1% after falling for six straight months, fueling skepticism from economists. Economists thought sales would fall 0.8% in the month, according to a Briefing.com survey.

Sales excluding volatile autos rose 0.9% versus forecasts for a drop of 0.4%.

Bank bailout: Investors continued to react to the Obama administration's bank bailout plan announced earlier in the week, which was seen by critics as lacking details.

On Wednesday, Geithner testified before the Senate Budget Committee, but was vague on details. Also Wednesday, executives at eight of the largest financial institutions testified before a House committee regarding how they are using the bailout money they've already been given.

Big bank shares cut losses, but remained in the red Thursday, despite the broad market turnaround.

The KBW Bank Sector (BKX) index fell 2.8%.

General Electric (GE, Fortune 500) shares continued to trade in tune with the financial sector, as investors focused on the prospects for its GE Capital unit.

Other movers: A bright spot was Dow component Coca-Cola (KO, Fortune 500), which rallied after it reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, thanks to strong global sales. Shares rose 7.6%.

Select technology shares gained, lifting the Nasdaq, including Qualcomm (QCOM, Fortune 500), Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) and Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500).

Market breadth was mixed. On the New York Stock Exchange, decliners beat advancers eight to seven on volume of 1.48 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, winners narrowly topped losers on volume of 2.48 billion shares.

Bonds: Treasury prices inched higher lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.78% from 2.79% Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Lending rates were unchanged. The 3-month Libor rate held steady at 1.23%, according to Bloomberg.com. The overnight Libor rate held steady at 0.30%. Libor is a bank lending rate.

Other markets: In global trading, Asian and European markets both ended lower.

The dollar gained against the euro and the yen.

U.S. light crude oil for March delivery fell $1.96 to settle at $33.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for April delivery rose $4.70 to $949.20 an ounce.

Gasoline prices rose 1.2 cents to a national average of $1.952 a gallon, according to a survey of credit-card swipes released Thursday by motorist group AAA.  To top of page

Features
They're hiring!These Fortune 100 employers have at least 350 openings each. What are they looking for in a new hire? More
If the Fortune 500 were a country...It would be the world's second-biggest economy. See how big companies' sales stack up against GDP over the past decade. More
Sponsored By:
More Galleries
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.