September 25, 2009
Wall Street erased early gains and fell on Thursday, as sales of existing homes unexpectedly slumped last month and the strong dollar weighed on commodities.
The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales dropped 2.7 percent in August, the first time in four months. D.R. Horton led declines in homebuilders.
The negative reading on the housing market overshadowed better-than-forecast jobs data. The U.S. Labor Department said the number of newly-laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits fell for a third week in a row. The number of people continuing to claim benefits for more than a week also fell, dropping 123,000 to 6.14 million.
Financials were among worst performers. Bank of America and Citigroup retreated after the Fed said it will shrink emergency programs that auction loans to commercial banks and Treasuries to bond dealers.
Moreover, producers of raw materials fell 2 percent for the steepest decline among 10 groups and energy shares lost 1.3 percent. Metals fell as the dollar rallied, and crude oil tumbled 4.4 percent to a one-month low on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Dow Jones fell 41.11, or 0.42 percent, to 9,707.44. Broader indexes also went lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 10.09, or 0.95 percent, to 1,050.78, and the Nasdaq fell 23.81, or 1.12 percent, to 2,107.61.