U.S. stocks fell and bond prices rose after financial shares led stocks lower amid continued credit concerns. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae fell after concern over the likelihood of a government bailout increased. Crude oil prices fell as concern that a tropical storm may threaten supply was reduced,leading energy shares lower.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 180.51 .. at 11479.39.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 19.60 .. at 1278.62.
The Nasdaq composite index was down 35.54 .. at 2416.98.
The Transportation Average was down 58.66 .. at 5094.95.
And Utilities were up 1.77 .. at 469.04
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange was light, with 986 million shares
traded. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by an 11-to-4 margin.
THE 5 MOST ACTIVE ISSUES ON THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE AS OF 3:10 CT WERE
CITIGROUP INC DOWN $ 0.93 TO.. $ 17.62
FREDDIE MAC DOWN $ 1.46 TO.. $ 4.39
BANK OF AMERICA CORP DOWN $ 1.40 TO.. $ 29.30
PFIZER INC DOWN $ 0.33 AT.. $ 19.64
GENERAL ELECTRIC CO DOWN $ 0.45 TO.. $ 29.35
The 30-year Treasury rose 1/2, lowering the yield to 4.43%. The 10-year Treasury rose 7/32, lowering the yield to 3.81%. The 3-month T-Bill closed at 1.77% and the 6-month T-Bill closed at 1.98%. In commodity markets, Gold rose $13.60 to $805.70 and Silver rose $0.29 to $13.22. Crude oil prices fell $0.90 to $112.87 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
LOOKING AT OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
Lowe's announced its second-quarter profit fell 7.9 percent but still managed
to beat Wall Street's estimates as consumers used their tax-rebate checks to
take on spring projects. The company stated quarterly earnings of $0.64 a
share, compared with $0.67 a year earlier. In addition, the company lowered guidance for its full-year earnings and now expects to earn a range of $1.48
to $1.56 a share. Lowe's closed up $0.04 to $24.54.UnionBanCal Corp. agreed to be acquired for $3.5 billion by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan's largest bank. As terms of the acquisition, each UnionBanCal shareholder would receive $73.50 per share, 17 percent higher than a previous offer of $63.00. The deal represents the largest takeover of a U.S. bank this year. UnionBanCal closed up $7.69 to $73.18 Qwest Communications International Inc. reached a tentative agreement with its largest union about a day after a labor contract had expired over wages and health care issues.The agreement reduces the possibility of a planned strike, which the union had authorized last week if it failed to come to an agreement with the company by Sunday. Qwest closed down $0.09 to $3.83.
At the close, foreign markets were mostly lower today.
Canada's S&P/TSX Composite was up 22.67 to close at 13119.37.
Mexico's Bolsa index was down 563.35 to close at 26777.48.
Britain's FTSE 100 Index was down 4.60 to close at 5450.20.
France's CAC 40 Index was down 4.78 to close at 4448.84.
Germany's DAX Index was down 13.14 to close at 6432.88.
Japan's market was up 146.04 to close at 13165.45.
Hong Kong's market was down 229.91 to close at 20930.67.