The Shadow
NEW YORK (AP) – A stronger dollar and more discouraging signs of a subdued economic recovery triggered a broad sell-off in stocks.
Major indexes tumbled more than 1.5 percent Thursday, including the Dow Jones industrials, which fell about 160 points.
Energy and material stocks showed the biggest losses as a jump in the dollar sent commodity prices tumbling. A stronger dollar makes commodities more expensive to foreign buyers, and companies that produce the commodities make less money from them.
Stocks have been influenced by the dollar in recent months, rising when the dollar is weak and falling when it strengthens. For much of this year, the dollar has been declining as the Federal Reserve’s record-low interest rates enable investors to borrow cheaply and encourage them to invest in assets other than cash. That has led to significant gains in stocks and commodities since early March.
Now, investors are starting to wonder whether the dollar’s decline has run its course and that other markets have gotten a little overheated considering the challenges the economy still faces, like high unemployment.
“There might be a little fear out there about dollar strengthening, as well as some natural profit-taking opportunities,” said Dan Cook, senior market analyst at IG Markets Inc. in Chicago. “We’ve been on an amazing run.”
The latest data on the economy gave investors little incentive to hold on to stocks. A private forecast of economic activity rose less than expected in October, signaling slow growth next year.
The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators, which forecasts activity over the next six months, rose 0.3 percent last month, less than the 0.5 percent gain economists anticipated. The index climbed 1 percent in September.
There was also disappointing news on housing. The Mortgage Bankers Association said more than 14 percent of American homeowners with a mortgage were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of September. The industry group’s quarterly report fed fears that a nascent recovery in the housing market could be upended by a continuing surge in loan defaults, especially as unemployment keeps rising.
Earlier Thursday, a report from the Labor Department said the number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment insurance was unchanged last week at 505,000, in line with expectations. But the figure remains above the level that would indicate the economy is adding jobs.
In late morning trading, the Dow fell 159.09, or 1.5 percent, to 10,267.22. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 20.13, or 1.8 percent, to 1,089.67, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 48.54, or 2.2 percent, to 2,144.60.
More than five stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 336.8 million shares, compared with 321.5 million at the same time on Wednesday.
Bonds rallied as stocks fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.33 percent from 3.37 percent late Wednesday.
The ICE Futures US dollar index, which measures the dollar against other major currencies, gained 0.6 percent, weighing on commodities prices. Gold gave up $3 to $1,137, while oil prices dropped $1.41 to $78.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
After stocks breached new 13-month highs earlier this week, investors want to see more concrete evidence that the economic recovery is firmly on track. High unemployment still has investors worried that the massive gains in stocks since early March are overdone.
The market’s losses on Thursday added to a modest decline the day before when stocks slipped on a drop in home construction and worse-than-expected forecasts from technology companies.
Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.5 percent, Germany’s DAX index lost 0.6 percent, and France’s CAC-40 declined 0.7 percent. Earlier Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 1.3 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.9 percent.
In other trading, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 14.52, or 2.4 percent, to 585.63.
