Investors Pause After Huge September
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(Update) After flipping in and out of positive territory in early trade, stocks moved lower and didn't look back as economic data failed to inspire buyers and a stronger dollar gave the "everything goes higher" camp pause.
With a nearly 9 percent rise in the S&P 500 in September (best since 1939), it was easy for investors to lock in some gains.
The Dow closed down 78 points to 10,751, the Nasdaq fell 26 points to 2,345 and the S&P 500 fell 9 points to 1,137.
August pending home sales rose 4.3 percent in August, which was better than the consensus of a 2.5 percent rise. August Factory orders were down 0.5 percent in August, more than the consensus of a 0.4 percent drop.
Weakness in Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), which was downgraded today by Goldman Sachs, weighed on both the Dow and tech-heavy Nasdaq. Shares of Microsoft fell 2 percent after the firm downgraded the stock to Neutral, saying they aren't doing enough to unlock value and tablets are cannibalizing notebooks.
The dollar showed rare strength today against a basket of other currencies, as represented by the 0.44 percent jump in the ETF PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (NYSE: UUP).
Investors may be reluctant to put new money to work ahead of third quarter earnings season, which kicks off this week with Alcoa (NYSE: AA) reporting after the close on October 7.
With a nearly 9 percent rise in the S&P 500 in September (best since 1939), it was easy for investors to lock in some gains.
The Dow closed down 78 points to 10,751, the Nasdaq fell 26 points to 2,345 and the S&P 500 fell 9 points to 1,137.
August pending home sales rose 4.3 percent in August, which was better than the consensus of a 2.5 percent rise. August Factory orders were down 0.5 percent in August, more than the consensus of a 0.4 percent drop.
Weakness in Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), which was downgraded today by Goldman Sachs, weighed on both the Dow and tech-heavy Nasdaq. Shares of Microsoft fell 2 percent after the firm downgraded the stock to Neutral, saying they aren't doing enough to unlock value and tablets are cannibalizing notebooks.
The dollar showed rare strength today against a basket of other currencies, as represented by the 0.44 percent jump in the ETF PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (NYSE: UUP).
Investors may be reluctant to put new money to work ahead of third quarter earnings season, which kicks off this week with Alcoa (NYSE: AA) reporting after the close on October 7.
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