The Institute for Supply Management's report that its manufacturing index fell to 47.7 percent for December from 50.8 percent in November raised concerns that the economy could be slowing at a quicker pace than some investors had estimated. (one of them would be Topper)
Stocks Fall on Manufacturing Reading
By TIM PARADIS,
AP
Posted: 2008-01-02 12:38:52
NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks pulled back Wednesday after a weaker-than-expected reading on the manufacturing sector and a spike in oil prices to $100 a barrel triggered concerns of a further slowdown in the overall economy. The major indexes each lost more than 1 percent, with the Dow Jones industrials falling giving up more than 200 points.
The Institute for Supply Management's report that its manufacturing index fell to 47.7 percent for December from 50.8 percent in November raised concerns that the economy could be slowing at a quicker pace than some investors had estimated. The reading below 50 signals economic contraction, whereas readings over 50 indicate expansion.
Analysts polled by Thomson/IFR had anticipated that manufacturing would expand modestly in December.
Light, sweet crude rose $4.02 to $100 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the first time oil has ever traded in triple digits, following violence in the oil-producing nation of Nigeria, concerns about weather-related stoppages of production in Mexico and speculation that inventory figures will show drops in levels of U.S. supplies.
The reading was unwelcome for investors wading into the first trading session of 2008 and indicated the concerns that weighed on stocks in the second half of 2007 will for now persist.
"It certainly is a soft number and the declines in production and new orders are eye-catching," said Alan Levenson, chief economist at T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. "Over all, the ISM has generally been a decent guide for the economy. This is a sharp decline in one month."
In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 201.59, or 1.52 percent, to 13,063.23.
Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 21.13, or 1.44 percent, to 1,447.23, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 49.80, or 1.88 percent, to 2,602.48.
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/stocks-fall-on-manufacturing-reading/n20080102123809990010
Stocks Fall on Manufacturing Reading
By TIM PARADIS,
AP
Posted: 2008-01-02 12:38:52
NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks pulled back Wednesday after a weaker-than-expected reading on the manufacturing sector and a spike in oil prices to $100 a barrel triggered concerns of a further slowdown in the overall economy. The major indexes each lost more than 1 percent, with the Dow Jones industrials falling giving up more than 200 points.
The Institute for Supply Management's report that its manufacturing index fell to 47.7 percent for December from 50.8 percent in November raised concerns that the economy could be slowing at a quicker pace than some investors had estimated. The reading below 50 signals economic contraction, whereas readings over 50 indicate expansion.
Analysts polled by Thomson/IFR had anticipated that manufacturing would expand modestly in December.
Light, sweet crude rose $4.02 to $100 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the first time oil has ever traded in triple digits, following violence in the oil-producing nation of Nigeria, concerns about weather-related stoppages of production in Mexico and speculation that inventory figures will show drops in levels of U.S. supplies.
The reading was unwelcome for investors wading into the first trading session of 2008 and indicated the concerns that weighed on stocks in the second half of 2007 will for now persist.
"It certainly is a soft number and the declines in production and new orders are eye-catching," said Alan Levenson, chief economist at T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. "Over all, the ISM has generally been a decent guide for the economy. This is a sharp decline in one month."
In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 201.59, or 1.52 percent, to 13,063.23.
Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 21.13, or 1.44 percent, to 1,447.23, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 49.80, or 1.88 percent, to 2,602.48.
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/stocks-fall-on-manufacturing-reading/n20080102123809990010
