Stocks extended losses as investors grew increasingly worried about Europe's fiscal health after headlines about rising borrowing costs for Spain and Italy. All three indexes closed down more than 1.5%. On Monday, Ben Bernanke said in a speech in Georgia that banks need to increase their capital buffers in order to ensure stability in the financial system. Also, wholesale inventories came in higher than expected for February with a 0.9% increase above the 0.5% rise forecast by economists. Hewlett-Packard was the only gainer in the blue-chip index, rising 0.6%. Sony dropped after the co. announced it expects an annual loss of more than double its previous projection. Tech stocks put in a roundly negative performance, adding to the previous day’s losses. Apple hit a new all-time high of $644 a share, turned south and closed 1.22% lower. Dell managed to hold a gain of 0.18% after getting upgraded to equal weight, or neutral, from underweight, by Morgan Stanley. AOL which on Monday rose more that 42% after it sold 800 patents to Microsoft for $1.06 billion, fell 6%. After the closing bell Alcoa reported an unexpected quarterly profit and bounced up 5.9%. Alcoa said it continues to project global aluminum demand will grow 7% this year. The release of Alcoa’s results are widely considered to mark the kickoff of a new earnings season. Implied volatility surged above the 19 level on huge trading volumes.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Extended losses on fear over Europe
Stocks extended losses as investors grew increasingly worried about Europe's fiscal health after headlines about rising borrowing costs for Spain and Italy. All three indexes closed down more than 1.5%. On Monday, Ben Bernanke said in a speech in Georgia that banks need to increase their capital buffers in order to ensure stability in the financial system. Also, wholesale inventories came in higher than expected for February with a 0.9% increase above the 0.5% rise forecast by economists. Hewlett-Packard was the only gainer in the blue-chip index, rising 0.6%. Sony dropped after the co. announced it expects an annual loss of more than double its previous projection. Tech stocks put in a roundly negative performance, adding to the previous day’s losses. Apple hit a new all-time high of $644 a share, turned south and closed 1.22% lower. Dell managed to hold a gain of 0.18% after getting upgraded to equal weight, or neutral, from underweight, by Morgan Stanley. AOL which on Monday rose more that 42% after it sold 800 patents to Microsoft for $1.06 billion, fell 6%. After the closing bell Alcoa reported an unexpected quarterly profit and bounced up 5.9%. Alcoa said it continues to project global aluminum demand will grow 7% this year. The release of Alcoa’s results are widely considered to mark the kickoff of a new earnings season. Implied volatility surged above the 19 level on huge trading volumes.
