Wall St ends 5 days of gains as oil weighs

Written by Reuters
Saturday, 12 September 2009 21:22

NEW YORK: US stocks broke a five-day winning streak on Friday, Sept 11 on a drop in crude oil prices but posted solid gains for the week, according to Reuters.

Data showing a stronger-than-expected rise in consumer sentiment and a bright outlook from shipper FedEx on Friday were not enough to motivate buyers in an equities market recently saturated with good news, analysts said.

October crude oil futures fell nearly 4 percent to settle at US$69.29 a barrel due to a higher-than-expected rise in refined fuel inventory.

"Both equities and oil are exhausted. Money has been coming out of dollar into equities and holding up energy all this week," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey.

But he added that as long as the U.S. dollar remains weak, stocks will not see a hefty correction since cash was moving out of the dollar and into risk-associated assets. The U.S. dollar fell to a one-year low against major currencies on Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 22.07 points, or 0.23 percent, at 9,605.41. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 1.41 points, or 0.14 percent, at 1,042.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 3.12 points, or 0.15 percent, at 2,080.90.

For the week, the Dow was up 1.7 percent, the S&P was up 2.6 percent, and the Nasdaq was up 3.1 percent.

After the longest string of consecutive daily gains since November, the broader S&P 500 index is now up 54 percent from its closing low on March.

Reacting to the decline in U.S. crude, Chevron Corp fell 1 percent to US$70.75 and was the top drag on the Dow. Exxon Mobil also shed 1 percent to US$69.98.

Among the gainers, FedEx rose 6.4 percent to US$77.32 after raising its first-quarter profit view. The outlook also lifted rival UPS 4.4 percent higher to US$58.80.

Another piece of optimistic news came from the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, which showed that consumer sentiment rose more than expected in early September, moving to its strongest level in three months. But market reaction was muted. - Reuters