Stocks Continue Consolidation, Lose Momentum

In a choppy session, stocks lost their momentum during the last hour.   

Stocks had a moderately negative day after the Department of Labor reported that initial unemployment claims for the week ending December 7 had soared by a frightening 68,000 to reach 368,000.  Nevertheless, the holiday season usually brings a good deal of volatility to the labor market.  The four-week moving average of initial claims climbed by 6.000 to 328,750.
 
Just before 3:00, the S&P 500 made its second brief escape out of the red before fading into the close.
 
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) lost 104 points to finish Thursday’s trading session at 15,739 for a 0.66 percent decline.  The S&P 500 (SPY) fell 0.38 percent to close at 1,775.
 
The Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) declined 0.25 percent to finish at 3,460.  The Russell 2000 (IWM) advanced 0.16 percent to end the day at 1,103.
 
In other major markets, oil (USO) dipped 0.03 percent to close at $34.97.
 
On London’s ICE Futures Europe Exchange, January futures for Brent crude oil declined $1.17 (1.07 percent) to $108.34/bbl. (BNO).
 
February gold futures declined $1.50 (0.12 percent) to $1,226.40 per ounce (GLD).
 
Transports crawled through the snowbound traffic on Thursday, as the Dow Jones Transportation Average (IYT) advanced 0.16 percent.
Stocks took a hard fall in Japan on Thursday.  The fact that nearly all commentators explained the decline as the result of fear that the Federal Reserve will taper its bond purchases demonstrated that nobody really had a clue as to why stocks sank.  The country has its own domestic problems which are more significant: such as the fact that the radioactivity from Fukushima is spreading all over the place.  Do people really believe that anyone will want to participate in – or attend – the Radioactive Olympics in 2020?  Dream on.  The exchange rate for the yen remained relatively unchanged on Thursday, holding near 102.56 per dollar just before Thursday’s closing bell in Tokyo (FXY).  The Nikkei 225 Stock Average sank 1.12 percent to 15,341 (EWJ).
 
Stocks were relatively unchanged on China’s mainland, as the banking sector led a slight decline due to fears that loosened controls on interest rates will reduce banks’ profits.  The situation is of greater concern in Hong Kong.  Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.06 percent to 2,202 (FXI).  Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.51 percent to end the day at 23,218 (EWH).
 
Stocks fell in Europe, after Eurostat reported that Eurozone industrial production sank 1.1 percent in October, falling far short of economists’ expectations of a 0.3 percent increase.  In the greater, 28-nation European Union, industrial production declined 0.7 percent.
 
The Euro STOXX 50 Index finished Thursday’s session with a 0.65 percent drop to 2,928 – falling further below its 50-day moving average of 3,020.  Its Relative Strength Index is 33.51 (FEZ).

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