Jobs Report Sends Dow Spiraling 216 Points
Not a single stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended in the black Wednesday, as a lukewarm jobs report and weak factory orders sent the index 216 points, or 1.4%, lower, to close at 14,960. Today's ADP report showed 135,000 additional private-sector jobs in May, though economists had been expecting as many as 170,000. The ADP's release provides some hint at what we can expect from the Labor Department's monthly job report on Friday.
Cisco , though unable to post gains, was the least-pronounced loser of the day, posting mere 0.2% losses. Noting rival Juniper Networks CEO Kevin Johnson's bullish comments on demand for telecom products, Wall Street briefly bid Cisco shares higher. If Johnson's right, it bodes well for Cisco's business as well.
On a day when all 10 market sectors were already in the red, DuPont had the misfortune of being in the worst-performing of those sectors: basic materials. With April U.S. factory orders coming in lower than expected and sluggish growth in private labor markets, there wasn't much to be bullish about. DuPont slumped 2.1% when all was said and done.
Aluminum producer Alcoa also underperformed, losing 2.2% by day's end. Aluminum prices, wavering near three-year lows, have remained so stagnant that China's state-owned aluminum producer, Chalco, is temporarily closing down to constrict supply and stabilize prices. Slowing Chinese growth is another constantly looming threat to Alcoa's business -- and China's growth rate is certainly on the decline. The GDP of the world's second-biggest economy advanced at a 7.7% clip in the first quarter, much tamer than economists were hoping for.
Intel , which has been on a roll in the past few days, slipped 2.6% Wednesday as Wall Street took some short-term gains. Shareholders had bid up the stock after learning Intel chips would power one of Samsung's next major devices, the Galaxy Tab 3. But it wasn't just profit-taking that sent the stock to the dregs of the Dow Wednesday; JPMorgan Chase pointed out that declining PC shipments may cause the company to whiff on second-quarter forecasts.
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