(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks finished with losses on Wednesday as investors were spooked by a steep fall in crude oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 65.63 points or 0.75% to finish at 8,675.24. The S&P 500 decreased 12.98 points or 1.37% to end at 931.76. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 10.88 points or 0.59% to 1,825.92.
ADP survey on Wednesday reported that a total of 532,000 private-sector jobs were lost in May. Economists had projected a drop of 525,000 private sector jobs.
A release by Commerce Department showed factory orders increased 0.7% in April, missing the consensus estimate of 0.9%.
The Institute for Supply Management said that its services index rose to 44% in May from 43.7% in April. Economists expected index to climb to 46%.
Meanwhile, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said that he expects overall economic growth to bottom out and then turn up later this year.
Shares of commodity producers and industrials were hit hard. Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:
AA), the largest US aluminum maker, plunged 45 cents or 4.28% to $10.07.
Caterpillar (NYSE:
CAT) tumbled 79 cents or 2.11% to $36.66.
General Electric (NYSE:
GE) retreated 30 cents or 2.17% to $13.50.
Shares of Boeing Co. (NYSE:
BA) lost 83 cents or 1.69% to $47.70.
Energy stocks finished lower. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:
XOM) fell 84 cents or 1.15% to $72.08. Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) declined $1.09 or 1.57% to $68.26.
Shares of chemical giant DuPont (NYSE:
DD) plummeted $1.12 or 3.73% to $28.93.
Among financials, shares of Citigroup (NYSE:
C) slumped 12 cents or 3.42% to $3.39 while Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) decreased 19 cents or 1.67% to $11.21.
Early on Wednesday, Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE:
TOL) reported that its fiscal second quarter loss narrowed to $83.2 million, or 52 cents a share, from $93.7 million, or 59 cents a share in the prior year quarter. Analysts on average were looking for a loss of 50 cents a share. Last month, Toll Brothers reported that quarterly revenue declined 51% to $398.3 million from $818 million. Shares of the company sank $1.29 or 6.61% to $18.24.
Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NYSE:
HOV) posted smaller quarterly loss of $118.6 million, or $1.50 a share, compared to a loss of $340.7 million, or $5.29 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue nearly halved to $398 million from $776.4 million. Hovnanian tumbled 20 cents or 6.62% to $2.82.
Late on Tuesday, health insurer Aetna Inc. (NYSE:
AET) slashed its forecast for 2009 operating profit, citing higher projected commercial medical costs and lower projected Medicare revenue. The company now anticipates operating earnings in the range of $3.55 to $3.70 per share, excluding items. It previously forecast $3.85 to $3.95 per share for the year. Shares of Aetna subtracted $1.27 or 4.66% to end at $26.
Meanwhile, NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) on Wednesday raised its offer for Data Domain Inc. (NASDAQ: DDUP) on Wednesday to $30 a share in cash and stock from $25 to match a bid from EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC). Computer storage giant EMC Corp. made an unsolicited offer of $1.8 billion dollars or $30 a share for Data Domain, setting up a potential bidding war with NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP), which offered to buy the company for $1.5 billion dollars or $25 a share two weeks ago.
European stocks settled with losses. The UK FTSE dropped 93.60 points or 2.09% to 4,383.42. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 1.74% and 2.02% respectively.
Asian stocks finished solidly higher. The Nikkei 225 rose 155.25 points or 1.63% to 9,677.75. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong advanced 717.59 points or 3.95% to 18,888.59.
NYMEX crude oil for July delivery declined $2.43 or 3.5% to settle at $66.12 a barrel.
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.
