Stocks down as oil nears $68
NEW YORK – Inflation concerns dominated Wall Street on Thursday, with stocks mostly lower as crude prices marched toward $68 a barrel and jobless claims fell. Interest in small-cap and technology stocks pushed the Nasdaq composite index narrowly higher, however, sending the index to its third straight five-year high.
While the economy has so far absorbed high energy costs, fears remain that chronically high prices could spark inflation. A barrel of light crude settled at $67.94, up 87 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Strength in the labor market also unnerved investors, as the Labor Department reported a third straight drop in weekly unemployment claims. With the monthly jobs report due today, Wall Street worried that more people on the nation’s payrolls would mean increased demand, another potential catalyst for inflation.
Should the inflation threat increase, the Federal Reserve would continue raising interest rates to combat higher prices – a move that would make consumer loans and mortgages more expensive and corporate expansion efforts more costly.
“You still have a lot of uncertainty, and the jobs report tomorrow, which will set the stage for what the Fed could do,” said Jeff Kleintop, chief investment strategist for PNC Financial Services Group in Philadelphia. “You’re just not going to see a lot of buyers in the market ahead of that.”
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 23.05, or 0.21 percent, to 11,216.50.
Broader stock indicators were barely mixed. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 2.52, or 0.19 percent, to 1,309.04, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 1.42, or 0.06 percent, to 2,361.17. It was the Nasdaq’s best close since Feb. 16, 2001.
Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.89 percent from 4.84 percent late Wednesday. The dollar fell against most major currencies. Gold prices rose, surpassing the $600 an ounce mark for the first time since 1981.
The rise in gold prices and the rise in oil spooked stock investors, as commodities are generally seen as a hedge against higher interest rates. With the economy growing solidly, investors worry that more rate increases will pressure corporate earnings, and thus share prices. However, there’s also an unwillingness to abandon stocks, because once the Fed has stopped raising rates, stocks could rally.
Among individual companies, investors sent shares of Dow industrial Merck & Co. down $1.15, or 3.2 percent, to $34.84 after a New Jersey jury said the company hid the potential dangers of its painkiller Vioxx and awarded a plaintiff $5.4 million in damages. The verdict could create further legal troubles for the drug maker.
The overall market was mostly unmoved by the latest influx of monthly retail sales reports. While the reports were somewhat disappointing, investors may have felt that a dropoff in spending could prompt the Fed to hold off on further rate hikes.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 0.03, practically flat, to 766.23.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average surged 1.42 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.03 percent, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.04 percent, and France’s CAC-40 gained 0.03 percent.