Markets turned negative, after the European Central Bank lowered its key lending rate by 0.25 percentage point, but stopped well short of committing to buy more government bonds. Mark Lasseigne has your market report in today's Acadiana Business Index.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 199 points to 11,998.

In U.S. economic data,

The Labor Department said 381,000 Americans filed new claims for government unemployment last week.

Wholesale inventories for October rose 1.6% as companies stocked up in anticipation of strong holiday sales.

Among stocks in focus,

McDonald's was the only positive stock in the Dow Industrials, up $0.47 . The fast-food company's global sales jumped 7.4% in November, greater than expected.

And, Ford said it will reinstate its dividend, of five cents a share, for the first time in more than five years. Ford said it would maintain the dividend even if another downturn hits the U.S.

Crude oil closed at $99.77 a barrel.

U.S inventories of crude oil, gasoline and heating oil all showed larger-than-expected increases last week, according to a report by the Energy Information Administration.

Gold settled at $1,713 an ounce.


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