Stocks Close Lower in Extremely Light Volume
The traders who showed up to work today -- and yes there were a few -- were looking at mostly red on their screens at session's end in a day marked by horrendously light volume.
For the week, the
Nasdaq Composite Index
and
posted jumps of 4.2% and 0.9% respectively. Blue-chips ended the week on a down note, however, as the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
slipped 0.1%.
As for today's session, a late afternoon selloff in the Treasury market sideswiped stocks.
Stocks, which opened higher on the day, quickly surrendered those gains and fell into the red, although the losses weren't very intense.
Cautionary
talk from
Chairman
Alan Greenspan
was blamed for the early knock off the highs and into negative territory. When the text of the chairman's speech before a
Kansas City Fed
symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., was released, it submerged stocks.
Online brokers got hammered after Lehman Brothers downgraded
Ameritrade
(AMTD) - Get Free Report
and
E*Trade
undefined
. Ameritrade was down 1 3/8, or 6.1%, to 21 5/16, while E*Trade was off 1 13/16, or 6.5%, to 25 15/16.
Volume overall was thin as one would expect considering it's a Friday in August.
On the
, decliners beat up on advancers 1,760 to 1,107 on 557.2 million shares. On the
Nasdaq Stock Market
, losers defeated winners 2,133 to 1,717 on 800.4 million shares.
On the NYSE, 35 issues set new 52-week lows while 34 touched new lows. On the Nasdaq, 90 issues set new 52-week highs while new lows totaled 59.
On the Big Board,
AT&T
(T) - Get Free Report
was most active with 10.9 million shares changing hands. It was off 2 7/16 to 47 1/2.
On the Nasdaq,
Dell
(DELL) - Get Free Report
was most active with 25.6 million shares changing hands. It was off 15/16 to 47 1/16.
Market data above are preliminary. Updated numbers and analysis will follow in the Market Roundup
Earlier...
2:57 p.m.: Stocks Limp Back Toward Session Lows
Like a runner who just twisted his ankle, stocks this afternoon were hobbling, limping along with some modest losses.
1:59 p.m.: Stocks Continue Slow Climb Off Session Lows
Stocks continued to do their slow climb off the bottom this afternoon after being knocked down earlier by jabber out of Jackson Hole, Wyo., from the G-Man.
1:18 p.m.: Midday Musings: Cautionary Tones From Greenspan Dampen None-Too-Crisp Session
12:01 p.m.: Broad Decline Continues as Greenspan Speech Does Little to Move Market
Alapalooza '99 rolled into the
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
in Jackson Hole, Wyo., at 10 a.m. EDT today.
Alan Greenspan
took the main stage and said the
Fed
has to consider what effect asset prices has on the mindset of consumers.
11:04 a.m.: Stocks Turn Modestly Lower
At 10 a.m. EDT, a little man with a big job spoke at a symposium in the middle of America
. Alan Greenspan's
remarks to the
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
in Jackson Hole, Wyo., were focused on how to evaluate the economy and those implications for monetary policy.
9:55 a.m.: Stocks Open Modestly Higher
Green was the word early on for stocks. However, gains in the major market gauges were nothing to leap and cheer about.
