BLBG: U.S. Stocks Fluctuate as Investors Weigh Housing, Factory Data
U.S. stocks fluctuated, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced last week, as investors weighed data on housing and manufacturing as the Federal Reserve considers the pacing for higher interest rates.
The S&P 500 lost 0.1 percent to 2,089.74 at 10:30 a.m. in New York, paring an earlier drop of 0.6 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 21.24 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,456.16.
“There was an inclination to sell after the Empire manufacturing number and then the housing data helped sweetened up the dessert and the market turned on us,” said Michael Antonelli, an institutional equity sales trader and managing director at Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee. “It’s a quiet Monday and the market is fairly easy to move around right now.”
The S&P 500 advanced 0.7 percent last week, with the benchmark index erasing its gain for the year on China’s currency devaluation before staging the biggest intraday turnaround in three years. The S&P 500 has been trading in the tightest trading range in nine decades.
Manufacturing in the New York region slumped at the fastest pace since the depths of the last recession, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed Monday. The central bank branch’s so-called Empire State index plunged to minus 14.9 in August, the lowest level since April 2009, from 3.9 the prior month. Readings less than zero signal contraction.
Stocks pared losses as another report showed confidence among U.S. homebuilders climbed in August to the highest level in almost a decade, indicating the residential real estate market is making strides.
Investors are watching economic reports to gauge the economy’s health. The Federal Reserve releases minutes from its July meeting on Aug. 19, with market expectations of a September rate hike rising from a week before to about 50-50.
“It might be the last week with low volumes as most investors are starting to come back to work next week, and it’s the end of the earnings season,” said John Plassard, senior equity sales trader at Mirabaud Securities LLP in Geneva. “Many investors are waiting for the Fed minutes to be published on Wednesday after the factory data, which may give some fuel to people expecting a rate hike in September.”
All 10 major groups in the S&P 500 declined on Monday. Industrial, financial and energy shares retreated more than 0.7 percent.
