why U.S stocks down?

U.S stocks dropped on the concern that the economy would be weakened as banks and brokerage face deeper losses and record energy costs depressed consumer spending. Many financial companies have lost as their estimates were wrong and the Federal Reserve signaled that it would stop cutting interest rates. Oil was record high at $135 a barrel and home sales were recor low and as such consumer stocks dropped. S&P 500 was down; all the 10 industries have declined bringing the U.S benchmark to the lowest level.

crude oil in high-stands

Crude oil started off on a positive note. It rose to $135 a barrel when U.S stockpiles dropped unexpectedly and traders closed losing trades on bets that prices would fall. Oil has risen 19 percent this month as analysts have increased their price forecasts because of supply constraints and demand growth. Everyone's jumped on the bandwagon and there's agreement that $200 is possible and that's getting more people into the market. They have very little supply cushion going forward and that's playing into the minds of investors. Rising oil prices are starting to affect other areas of the economy, particularly the transportation industry. There are rising concerns it will slow growth as increases in fuel cause costs to surge.

Euro on high note

Euro rose to the highest level in more than three weeks against the dollar and the U.K. pound after an industry survey showed German business confidence unexpectedly increased in May. Experts in London said: “ifo obviously shows the German economy is very resilient and is in a much better position than the rest of the world and the Euro will appreciate again and start hitting new all-time highs on the back of the resilience of the German economy.'' The Euro climbed to $1.5717 from $1.5646 yesterday. It also advanced to 79.97 pence per pound from 79.49. Yen climbed to 103.37 per dollar from 103.68.

U.S stocks on high note

Yesterday, U.S stock futures started off on a positive note. Stocks were up and S&P500 did a fantastic job. The companies listed under S&P outperformed and the S&P was four-month high yesterday. According to experts, energy shares were relatively cheaper than the crude prices. Yesterday, eight of 10 industry groups under S&P advanced as the gains in technology; commodity and consumer shares had overpowered early declines spurred by reports showing an increase in jobless claims and a slump in manufacturing.

Intel Corp and Nvidia Corp led the semi conductor shares to the highest level. According to Chalupnik, senior managing director at First American Funds said: “if we can get through this high-risk period of a U.S. recession, and we appear to be skirting that, technology will be a likely beneficiary. We are positive on the retailers and the consumer is not totally rolling over.”

S&P 500 was up by 1.1 percent, to 1,423.57 and Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.7 percent, to 12,992.66 and the greatest Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.5 percent, to 2,533.73. (figures by bloomberg.com)