The Market Story

Dismal Data Depress Wall Street

Stock quotes in this article: DB , HBC , JPM , MS , C , STX , ORCL , TIF  

Overall, import prices fell 9.3% in 2008, the first year the index declined since a 9.1% drop in 2001 and the largest calendar year decline since the index was first published in 1982.

The export price index fell 2.3%, less steep than the 3.4% decline a month earlier. Export prices declined 3.2% in 2008, the first calendar year drop since 2001 and the largest since 1998.

In other data Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association said that the market composite index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume increased 15.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis to 1324.8 for the week ended Jan. 9. The Refinance Index increased 25.6%, its highest level since 2003, while the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index fell 14.1%.

The MBA said the average contract interest rate decreased to 4.89% percent from 5.07% for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, and decreased to 4.63% from 4.67% for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages.

The dollar was lately weaker against the euro, pound and yen.

In commodities, oil gave up a nickel to settle at $37.28 a barrel, while gold fell $11.90 to settle at $808.80 an ounce.

Action Alerts PLUS

Overseas, the FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt were both edging lower Wednesday, but Japan's Nikkei Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended in positive territory.

  • Loading Comments...
  •  
1 2 3
Next >

SHARE:

  • email
  • print
  • comment
  • digg
  • delicious
  • linkedin
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.




Connect with TheStreet

Dow Jones S&P 500 NASDAQ 10-Year Note
10,223.54 1,091.49 2,148.84 34.44
Oil *
78.31
DOWN
3.40
DOWN
1.58
DOWN
5.22
DOWN
0.42
10 Yr
3.44%
SPDR Gold
108.37
-0.03%
-0.14%
-0.24%
-1.20%
Data delayed 20 minutes

Brokerage Partners

TheStreet Premium Services

All Services