Upcoming “Fiscal Cliff” Weighs Heavy On Investors – Acadiana Business Index

Stocks experienced a setback on Wednesday. Ken Meyers has your stock market market on the Acadiana Business Index.

• The Dow retreated 313 points to close below 13,000 at 12932. The S&P 500 declined more than 33 points to finish at 1394. The NASDAQ ended the session 74 points lower at 2937.
• The major averages closed firmly in negative territory as attention shifted from President Obama’s re-election to the upcoming fiscal cliff.
• Europe also provided a headwind to Wednesday’s market action after ECB President Mario Draghi warned the region’s economic activity is likely to remain weak.
• All 10 sectors ended the session in the red led by the financials, energy and technology. Morgan Stanley fell $1.56 to $16.63 and Bank of America lost 71 cents to $9.23. Shares of Exxon slipped $2.86 to $88.18 as crude oil declined more than 4.5% to below $85 a barrel. Over in technology, Apple was called lower by $22.20 to close at $558.00. With Wednesday’s decline, Apple is down more than 20.0% from its intra-day record high of $705.07 set on September 21.
• Tenet Healthcare was the notable gainer on Wednesday’s session. Shares of the hospital operator advanced $2.39 to $27.34 after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results.
• Breadth was negative on issues by 9-2 on the NYSE and by 6-1 on the NASDAQ. NYSE Composite volume totaled more than 4.3 billion shares.
• Treasuries rallied Wednesday with the 10-year note rising more than a point to yield 1.64%.

For the complete report, click Ken's Market Report.