Demands that President-elect Barack Obama announce his economic team early were rising as stocks plummeted for the second straight day
NEW YORK: Demands that President-elect Barack Obama announce his economic team early were rising as stocks plummeted for the second straight day, with Dow Jones losing 929 points since elections day on fears of deepening recession, weak retail sales and rising unemployment.
Dow lost 443 points or 4.9 per cent of its value yesterday to close at 8695.48, tech stock heavy NASDAQ went down 72.94 point to 1608.70 losing 4.34 per cent and S&P plummeted 47.89 points to 904.88, losing slightly above five per cent of its
value.
The sentiments were depressed at the stock exchanges as major retailers, with the exception of discount department store Wall Mart, finding it difficult to attract customers who, analysts say, were skipping shopping trips and struggling to put food on the table. Some the retailers reported deep reduction.
The investors were also awaiting the unemployment report later today which analysts say is expected to show a loss of 2,00,000 non-farm jobs in October which could further cut down the purchasing power of consumers whose spending constitutes a major part to the economy.
Crude oil too plunged USD 6.94 to USD 60.77 but it did not help lift the sentiments of investors.
"There's just not a lot of buying power out there right now, so any bad news we get is going to tend to get the market moving lower," Daniel Genter, president and chief investment officer of RNC Genter, a Los Angeles money-management firm, was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying.
Volume at the New York Stock Exchange was slightly below the year-to-date average. Decliners outnumbered advancers nearly five to one as some analysts warned that the recession\ could go into the next year.
November and December are the months in which retailers earn the maximum with Christmas shopping and analysts say it could create a major problem for the retail industry if the buying does not pick up.
One of the weak links was the auto industry which itself is seeking a major bail out from the government.
GM's North American president was quoted as saying that the industry is facing a critical 100-day period in which it needs to amp up its efforts to secure government support.
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