Related News
Dismal job market pushes Dow into 275-point dive
Source: Agencies |
June 2, 2012, Saturday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
ALARMED by an ominously weak US jobs report, investors ran for safety yesterday from new worries about a global slowdown, sending the Dow Jones industrial average into a 275-point dive, the index's biggest loss since last November.
The broad selloff wiped out the last of the index's gains for the year.
Across Wall Street, fearful investors snapped up safer investments such as bonds, dragging the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note to a record low. Gold spiked US$50 an ounce, and oil fell to its lowest since October.
"The big worry now is that this economic slowdown is widening and accelerating," said Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ, a market research firm.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index and Nasdaq composite index both fell more than 2 percent. The Nasdaq has dropped more than 10 percent since its peak - what traders call a market correction. The S&P 500 is just a point above correction territory.
American employers added just 69,000 jobs in May, the fewest in a year, and the unemployment rate increased to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent. Economists had forecast a gain of 158,000 jobs.
The report, considered the most important economic indicator each month, also said that hiring in March and April was considerably weaker than originally thought.
Earlier data showed weak economic conditions in Europe and Asia, too. Unemployment in the 17 countries that use the euro currency stayed at a record-high 11 percent in April, and unemployment spiked to almost 25 percent in Spain.
There were signs that growth in China, which helped sustain the global economy through the recession, is slowing significantly. China's manufacturing sector weakened in May, according to surveys released yesterday.
The Dow closed down 274.88 points, or 2.2 percent, at 12,118.57. The Dow is off 0.8 percent for the year; two months ago, it was up more than 8 percent for the year.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 32.29 points, or 2.5 percent, to 1,278.04. The Nasdaq dropped 79.86, or 2.8 percent, to 2,747.48. Both indexes are still up for the year - 1.6 percent for the S&P 500 and 5.5 percent for the Nasdaq.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note briefly fell to 1.44 percent, the lowest on record. It ended the day at 1.46 percent. Gold for August delivery climbed US$57.90, nearly 4 percent, to US$1,622.10 per ounce.
"Everybody's looking for a safe haven," said Adam Patti, CEO of IndexIQ, an asset management firm. He's skeptical of that strategy, believing the swing was driven by short-term traders "looking to flip in and out of things," rather than long-term investors willing to ride out a few bumps in the market.
May was the worst month for the stock market in two years by some measures. Investors' worries about Europe's debt crisis intensified as the month wore on. Greece's political future is uncertain, and it appears increasingly likely to stop using the euro currency. That could rattle financial markets and make Greece's economy - already hobbled - even weaker.
Yesterday's jobs report drew traders' attention back to the weakening US economy, said Todd Salamone, director of research for Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.
The broad selloff wiped out the last of the index's gains for the year.
Across Wall Street, fearful investors snapped up safer investments such as bonds, dragging the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note to a record low. Gold spiked US$50 an ounce, and oil fell to its lowest since October.
"The big worry now is that this economic slowdown is widening and accelerating," said Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ, a market research firm.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index and Nasdaq composite index both fell more than 2 percent. The Nasdaq has dropped more than 10 percent since its peak - what traders call a market correction. The S&P 500 is just a point above correction territory.
American employers added just 69,000 jobs in May, the fewest in a year, and the unemployment rate increased to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent. Economists had forecast a gain of 158,000 jobs.
The report, considered the most important economic indicator each month, also said that hiring in March and April was considerably weaker than originally thought.
Earlier data showed weak economic conditions in Europe and Asia, too. Unemployment in the 17 countries that use the euro currency stayed at a record-high 11 percent in April, and unemployment spiked to almost 25 percent in Spain.
There were signs that growth in China, which helped sustain the global economy through the recession, is slowing significantly. China's manufacturing sector weakened in May, according to surveys released yesterday.
The Dow closed down 274.88 points, or 2.2 percent, at 12,118.57. The Dow is off 0.8 percent for the year; two months ago, it was up more than 8 percent for the year.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 32.29 points, or 2.5 percent, to 1,278.04. The Nasdaq dropped 79.86, or 2.8 percent, to 2,747.48. Both indexes are still up for the year - 1.6 percent for the S&P 500 and 5.5 percent for the Nasdaq.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note briefly fell to 1.44 percent, the lowest on record. It ended the day at 1.46 percent. Gold for August delivery climbed US$57.90, nearly 4 percent, to US$1,622.10 per ounce.
"Everybody's looking for a safe haven," said Adam Patti, CEO of IndexIQ, an asset management firm. He's skeptical of that strategy, believing the swing was driven by short-term traders "looking to flip in and out of things," rather than long-term investors willing to ride out a few bumps in the market.
May was the worst month for the stock market in two years by some measures. Investors' worries about Europe's debt crisis intensified as the month wore on. Greece's political future is uncertain, and it appears increasingly likely to stop using the euro currency. That could rattle financial markets and make Greece's economy - already hobbled - even weaker.
Yesterday's jobs report drew traders' attention back to the weakening US economy, said Todd Salamone, director of research for Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
