Dow Breaks 6-Day Winning Streak
The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke its six-day winning streak today after closing lower by 14 points, or 0.1%. An unexpected 4.6% rise in durable goods orders from November to December wasn't enough to help the index overcome issues weighing on the markets such as the disappointing pre-existing home sales numbers, which were also released this morning. Although analysts estimated a 1% rise from November to December in pending home sales, the National Association of Realtors instead reported a decline of 4.3% during that time frame.
The other major indexes also ended the day mixed, as the S&P 500 closed down 2.78 points, or 0.18%, and the Nasdaq gained 4.59 points, or 0.15%. Meanwhile, the Dow fell 14 points and now sits at 13,881. And out of its 30 components, 18 ended the trading day in the red. Six of the day's Dow downers fell more than 1% today. A few of the big losers were Boeing , American Express , Bank of America , and JPMorgan Chase .
So why did they fall?
Shares of Boeing fell by 1.37% after it was revealed that the investigation into the 787 Dreamliner's battery has come up with no reasons for why it failed in two planes. Investigators have now moved to the plane's battery system circuit board to find answers. The 50 Dreamliners that have been delivered to customers were grounded after one caught fire and another made an emergency landing due to problems with the plane's battery system. If investigators can't determine the cause of the problems and Boeing is forced to shut down the Dreamliner program, it will lose an estimated $5 billion in revenue.
Although American Express wasn't one of the Dow's losers, its shares dropped by 0.72% after "checkout" fees went into effect yesterday. The 4% checkout charge, which U.S. retailers in 40 states can now charge customers who use credit cards, will likely hurt the overall profitability of credit card companies as the total number of transactions may drop in the future.
The big Dow banks also fell today. Bank of America ended the trading session down 1.2% while JPMorgan Chase lost 1.1%. The drops came after the Federal Reserve announced guidelines it will be using to evaluate the big banks during their stress tests. Some of the scenarios released today focus on the global equity markets and how negative effects in those areas would hurt the banks' overall health. The results of these tests will be released on March 7.
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Fool contributor Matt Thalman owns shares of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. Follow Matt on Twitter @mthalman5513. The Motley Fool recommends American Express. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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