The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 0.31 points at 12,815.08, as of 6 p.m. Monday. The closing level of the Dow was revised several times after trading closed. The New York Stock Exchange experienced a trading glitch during the day, forcing it to alter its normal procedure for determining the closing prices of some stocks.
The Dow spent the day alternating from small gains to losses, never rising more than 46 points or falling more than 32.
The Standard Poor’s 500-stock index edged up 0.18 points to 1,380.03. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.61, to 2,904.26.
Trading was light. The federal government and the American bond market were closed for Veterans Day, and no economic reports were released.
Federal spending cuts and tax increases are scheduled to begin with the new year, unless a divided Congress and the White House can find a compromise.
Some traders thought the tentative trading action was inevitable, because there has been no positive or negative news about the economy or the possibility of a deal to avoid the spending cuts and tax increases.
“Nothing good is going on,” said Scott Freeze, president of Street One Financial in Huntingdon Valley, Pa. “Everything forward-looking remains dreary.”
Last week, after voters returned a long-deadlocked and divided government to Washington, the Dow dropped 434 points in two days and had one of its worst weeks of the year.
Even if lawmakers work out a compromise, as they usually do, the political fight until then is sure keep investors on edge, pitching the stock market back and forth until the matter is resolved. Economists say the so-called fiscal cliff could cost the economy $800 billion and three million jobs and would steer the United States back into recession.
President Obama, a Democrat, and Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, have spoken of compromise but appeared to take firm stances on some issues. Mr. Obama will meet with labor representatives as well as other liberal groups on Tuesday. He will hold separate meetings with the business community on Wednesday.
The effect on the markets has been widespread. Fears about the American economy were blamed for keeping a lid on European markets and Asian markets, which closed mostly lower.
In Greece, lawmakers passed a new austerity budget, and the country’s international lenders drafted a report saying it had made progress in righting its finances. Greece is hoping the other euro countries will give it an additional $40 billion in bailout loans. The budget and the report are crucial steps toward that goal.
Still, the new bailout is no sure thing: some of the potential lenders must seek approval from their parliaments. Greece’s main stock market index closed down 3.6 percent.
Mr. Freeze of Street One Financial was among the underwhelmed. “At this point, all the Greek news is just noise,” he said. “None of these bailouts really solve the underlying problem. Now, if all of a sudden Spain became incredibly solvent and its unemployment rate went to 5 percent, then you’d see” a reason to buy.
Leucadia National announced it would buy the investment banking firm Jefferies Group. Jefferies’s chief will run the combined company. Stock in Leucadia, a holding company with investments in eclectic industries including beef processing and medical products, dropped 66 cents, or 3 percent, to $21.14. Jefferies shares soared $2, or 14 percent, to $16.27.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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