On Wall Street, the major indices ended trading on Monday without significant changes, indicating that even after four days of substantial losses, investors are not convinced that stock prices are attractive again.
The Dow Jones index weakened by 1.14 points or just 0.01 percent, to 10,302 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose by 8.4 points or 0.39 percent, to 2,181 points. The S&P 500 index, on the other hand, strengthened by 0.13 points or 0.01 percent, to 1,079 points. Trading volume was even 40 percent lower than the average daily volume during the same period last year. Specifically, only 5.81 billion shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange, and Nasdaq, marking one of the lowest trading volumes since the beginning of the year. “Trading volume remains anemic as traders and portfolio managers find no reason to buy stocks,” emphasizes Scott Fullman, director of investment strategy at WJB Capital Group.
Market participants who expected a market recovery after four days of sharp downward corrections were disappointed by the latest economic indicators, which pointed to further weaknesses in the U.S. real estate market and regional industrial activity. Thus, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) index for August unexpectedly indicated a decline in sentiment in that sector for the third consecutive month, now at its lowest level since March 2009. The New York Fed, on the other hand, released the Empire State index of industrial production for August, which increased, but the component of the index related to new orders fell below zero for the first time since July 2009, which is considered an early sign of economic slowdown.
