Hemorrhaging on Wall Street goes to Day 2
NEW YORK, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- A punishing sell-off went to a second day Thursday on Wall Street, as investors rejected a U.S. Federal Reserve stimulus measure.
The Fed's announcement that it would begin an operation twist, exchanging $400 billion in short-term securities for an equal amount of long-term bonds, sent shivers through markets Wednesday afternoon. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 240 points in between the afternoon announcement and the close of trading.
As markets opened in Asia Thursday, the hemorrhaging continued. Markets gave up 4 percent in Hong Kong and India and 2.7 percent in China. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 2.6 percent.
In midday trading in Europe, stocks were off 4 percent in Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Sweden and Belgium.
In early afternoon trading on Wall Street, the DJIA shed 316.43 points or 2.84 percent to 10,808.40. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 31.08 points or 2.66 percent to 1,135.68. The Nasdaq composite index lost 68.19 points or 2.69 percent to 2,470.00.
The benchmark 10-year treasury rose 25/32 to yield 1.76 percent.
The euro fell to $1.3449 from Wednesday's $1.3572. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 76.1795 yen from Wednesday's 76.44 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index shed 2.07 percent, 180.90, to 8,560.26.
Overnight, the price of November contract West Texas Intermediate crude oil priced in New York dropped 4 percent to $81.13 per barrel. The price of gold plummeted, listed as dropping $82.70 to $1,725.40 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
U.S. leading indicators show risk rising
NEW YORK, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. index of leading economic indicators rose 0.3 percent in August, but economic risks are rising, the Conference Board said Thursday.
The Leading Economic Index in August rose to 116.2, posting an increase for the third consecutive month, having risen 0.5 percent in July and 0.3 percent in June.
"The August increase in the U.S. LEI was driven by components measuring financial and monetary conditions which offset substantially weaker components measuring expectations," Conference Board economist Ataman Ozyildirim said.
Instead of showing a more robust recovery, on balance, "the leading indicators point to rising risks and volatility, and increasing concerns about the health of the expansion," Ozyildirim said.
"There is growing risk that sustained weak confidence could put downward pressure on demand and business activity, causing the economy to potentially dip into recession," board economist Ken Goldstein said.
"While the chance of that remains below 50-50, the odds have certainly increased in recent months."
New Canadian jobless claims rise
OTTAWA, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- The number of initial and renewed jobless claims in Canada rose 3.8 percent to 243,300 in July, Statistics Canada reported Thursday from Ottawa.
There were 8,800 new or renewed claims, the third increase in four months, the agency said.
Several provinces reported increases in new claims, led by Ontario, where there was a 19 percent jump.
Despite those increases, StatsCan said the number of people receiving regular federal Employment Insurance benefits fell by 4.4 percent, or 24,800 claimants, to 535,700. That is the 10th consecutive monthly decline and the largest of them, the report said.
Of the 10 provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador was the only one to report an increase in the number of regular beneficiaries, up 1.2 percent, the agency said.
Home prices rose slightly in August
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. home prices rose 0.8 percent in July, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Thursday.
The agency's House Price Index tracks prices for homes with mortgages backed by either the Federal National Mortgage Association or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.
Data shows the index is 3.3 percent below July 2010 and 18.4 percent below the index peak in April 2007.
Of the nine regional divisions tracked, prices rose furthest in the West North Central Division, rising 3.6 percent, the report said. Prices dropped farthest in the South Atlantic Division, where prices fell 0.4 percent.
