Stocks sag despite S&P agency's brighter outlook
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange last week. The Dow dropped 9 points to close at 15,238 on Tuesday. (June 7, 2013) Credit: Getty Images
Investors just yawned yesterday after the Standard & Poor's ratings agency said it's getting more optimistic about the U.S. economy.
Stocks budged higher when trading opened, shortly after the S&P agency raised its outlook for the U.S. government's debt rating and credited "the strengths of the economy." But the gains proved both modest and fickle, and the market spent most of the day flitting between small gains and losses.
At day's end, the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 were lower, but just barely. The Nasdaq composite was slightly higher.
The S&P's statement hearkened back to August 2011, when the agency slashed its rating of the U.S. government's debt. The downgrade sent the stock market into a tailspin. The Dow plunged 634 points on the first trading day after the downgrade. The market had triple-digit swings throughout that fall.
The reaction Monday from investors was a far cry from two summers ago. Some doubted the S&P's assessment that the economy is improving and said the Fed is only artificially propping it up.
The Dow closed down 9.53 points at 15,238.59. The S&P 500 index was flat, falling 0.03 percent to 1,642.81. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.13 percent to 3,473.77. -- AP
'We have to do better' Newsday high school sports editor Gregg Sarra talks about a bench-clearing, parent-involved incident at a Half Hollow Hills West basketball game.
'We have to do better' Newsday high school sports editor Gregg Sarra talks about a bench-clearing, parent-involved incident at a Half Hollow Hills West basketball game.
