US Markets

US stocks ended with good gains on Thursday, 03 September, 2009. Stocks started the day in the green but slipped for a very brief period of time. Nevertheless, a late squeeze helped indices rally in the final hours and end the day with modest gains. Economic reports that checked in were mixed in nature.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 63.94 points at 9,344.61. The Nasdaq Composite Index, ended higher by 16.13 points at 1,983.2. S&P 500 ended higher by 8.3 points at 1003.25.

Eight of ten economic sectors ended in the green today led by the financial, and material sectors. Telecom and healthcare sectors were the main laggards. AT&T and Verizon remained the main Dow laggards today.


The major indices remain modestly higher, thanks largely to leadership from the financial sector. Shares of AIG provided the most leadership to the financial sector.

Retailers were another sector that helped market with broader gains. Gap, Limited, Nordstrom, and Kohl's were primary leaders among retailers. Gap reported that its same-store sales for August were down 3%, while Limited reported that comparables for August were down 4% and Nordstrom saw sales drop almost 8%. Kohl's was the only name in this short list to post an increase, which was a mere 0.2%.

Selling pressure didn't pick up until the release of the August ISM Services Index, which, at 48.4, came in slightly above the consensus.


Crude prices ended little lower on Thursday, 03 September, 2009. Prices remained volatile for entire day as the initial claims report hit the wires today. On Thursday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for October delivery closed at $67.96/barrel (lower by 9 cents or 0.1%). During intra day trading, crude touched a high of $69.40 but also fell to a low of $67.66. Last week, crude ended higher by 9.5%. It was the biggest weekly gain for crude in three months.

In the currency market on Thursday, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of dollar, against a basket of six other currencies ended slid by 0.7%. The dollar moved lower against the euro and the British pound but remained higher against the Japanese yen.