US stocks fall as strong GDP report boosts taper talk
In this Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013, photo, specialists Joe Parisi, left, and Michael Cacace work at a post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. US stocks Thursday declined again after surprisingly good US economic growth in the third quarter raised expectations the Federal Reserve will hasten a plan to scale back aggressive monetary stimulus. AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW
NEW YORK—US stocks Thursday declined again after surprisingly good US economic growth in the third quarter raised expectations the Federal Reserve will hasten a plan to scale back aggressive monetary stimulus.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 68.26 (0.43 percent) at 15,821.51.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 7.78 (0.43 percent) to 1,785.03, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 4.84 (0.12 percent) to 4,033.16.
The Dow and S&P 500 have now declined the last five days.
Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank, said the losses were unusual for December, which is typically a good month for the stock market.
“The market is taking good news as bad news,” Ablin said. “Investors are fearful of Fed policy and are shifting their beliefs on the timing of tapering.”
Thursday’s declines came after the Commerce Department reported the US economy grew at speedy 3.6 percent in the third quarter, far above the 3.0 percent many analysts had expected.
Ablin said the GDP data was the latest US economic report to best expectations, raising speculation that Friday’s jobs report will also surprise to the upside and thereby boost taper talk even more.
Citigroup lost 1.9 percent and Morgan Stanley fell 3.0 percent after Deutsche Bank downgraded the two banks to “neutral” and said a Fed taper “seems more likely to be negative” for banks in the near term.
Deutsche Bank analysts said bank earnings were boosted in recent years by fixed income investment inflows due in part to Fed bond-buying. But those inflows have “turned negative” over the last six months and will likely remain depressed due to Fed tapering, they said.
Other banks also fell, including JPMorgan Chase (-2.4 percent), Bank of America (-1.3 percent), Goldman Sachs (-1.9 percent) and Wells Fargo (-1.1 percent).
Dow component Microsoft sank 2.4 percent on speculation Ford chief executive Alan Mulally would not replace outgoing Steve Ballmer as Microsoft CEO. Ford rose 0.7 percent.
Discount retailer Dollar General advanced 6.1 percent after earnings of 74 cents per share exceeded expectations by 4 cents. The company also bumped up its full-year profit forecast and boosted its share repurchase plan by $1 billion.
Appliance retailer Conn’s gained 19.4 percent after earnings per share reached 66 cents compared with estimates for 64 cents. The company said it was also raising its full-year forecast on same-store sales growth of 22-25 percent.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.86 percent from 2.84 percent Wednesday, while the 30-year held steady at 3.91 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
