Investors seemed indecisive today as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell and rallied over and over before committing fall this afternoon. Reports of weaker than expected housing sales in May (likely due to bank delays in approving new mortgages) as well as imminent financial reforms seemed to have investors running scared. Even a federal court judge’s lifting of the 6-month ban on offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico didn’t help investors commit to a rally as the Dow ended the day at 10,293.52 down 148.89 points from Monday.
European and Asian markets were mostly down, with the Shanghai Composite posting Tuesday’s only gains. This is likely the result of the Central Bank’s statement that it will step in to impose limits on the gains of the yuan. For the past 2 years China has forced the yuan to keep pace with the dollar instead of allowing its exchange rate to grow to a more appropriate value. Recently they abandoned this strategy.
Interestingly, one of the biggest individual stock losers today was Big Lots Inc (NYSE:BIG) which lost almost 8% on news that JPMorgan analysts had downgraded the stock.
The Nasdaq closed down 27.29 points at 2,261.80 and the S&P 500 closed down 17.89 points at 1,095.31.
