U.S. stocks indexes ended lower Monday night, unable to shake-off disappointing overseas data. Stocks started their downward trajectory pre-bell after Japan reported a sharp deceleration in growth. Also adding to the dire mood, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC) joined other brokerages in cutting its 2012 growth estimate for China.
GDP in Japan grew at an annualized 1.4% pace in Q2, below the 2.7% economists projected. The rate was sharply lower than the 5.5% growth rate Japan's economy tallied in the previous quarter.
The euro climbed following reports that another lawsuit questioning the legality of the European Stability Mechanism was filed today in Germany. This new filing could delay the court ruling on the fund until mid-September. Also in Europe, Italy sold almost $10 bln in 12-month Treasury bills, with higher yields than previous auctions even though demand was strong.
There was no U.S. economic released today.
Commodities were hit, crude for September delivery retreated 14 cents to end at $92.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural-gas futures dropped 1.4% to end at $2.73 per million British thermal units. After a range bound session, gold for December delivery closed down $10.20, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,612.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Here's where the markets stood at end-of-day:
US MARKETS
- NYSE Composite Index is down 31.45 points (-0.39%) at 8,013.31
- Dow Jones Industrial Index is down 3.52 points (-0.29%) at 13,169.43
- S&P 500 is down 1.76 points (-0.13%) at 1,404.1099
- Nasdaq Composite Index is up 1.66 points (+0.05%) at 3,022.5
- FTSE 100 is down 21.22 (-0.36%) to 5825.65
- DAX is down 38.76 (-0.55%) to 6906.42
- CAC 40 is down 13.82 (-0.40%) to 3421.80
- Nikkei 225 is down 6.29 (-0.07%) to 8885.15
- Hang Seng Index is down 54.76 (-0.27%) to 20081.36
- Shanghai China Composite Index is down 32.74 (-1.51%) to 2136.08
- (+) FSII, to be Acquired by Tokyo Electron for $252.5 Mln
- (+) PVSW, Actian Corporation Proposes to Acquire
- (+) HIHO, Board of Directors Declares Dividend
- (-) ARWR, Announces Sale of Stock and Warrants
- (-) REED, Q1 Results
- (-) AERL, Posts Q2 Below Estimates; Lowers FY12 Non-GAAP Income Guidance