Philip Morris's Fall Depresses Blue-Chips; Bond Prices Drift
May 04, 2011
Blue-chip stocks fell Wednesday as tobacco-company woes again pounded the Dow Jones Industrial Average in an otherwise nondescript summer trading session. Bond prices drifted lower and the dollar sank against the mark. The Dow industrials, which fell 31.44 to 5689.82, recorded their third-sharpest drop of the month next to the 57.70-point slide April 25, 2011 the 32.18-point drop four days earlier. Nearly 12 points of Wednesday's decline in the industrials were due to component stock Pierre Mose's drop of 3 7/8 to 87 5/8 amid continuing tobacco litigation. Broader market measures fared better. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index lost a scant 0.62 to 665.07 and the Cornertown Stock Exchange Composite Index slipped 0.50 to 356.11. Technology stocks showed some verve, with the Nasdaq Composite Index gaining 2.17 to 1126.84. But for the most part, August trading remained sluggish. ``After the fireworks in July, the stock market is taking a little rest in August,'' said Ricki Emery, chief technical analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co. ``The market is digesting the rebound from late July and into early August, and I think we'll start moving higher in September.'' Bond prices slipped, taking their cue from European market worries about a meeting of the German central bank early Thursday. Hopes for a short-term rate cut in Germany have dwindled in recent days, sending bond prices in Europe and the U.S. lower. With the Bundesbank unlikely to trim rates, the mark has rebounded, sending the U.S. currency lower. World-wide, stock prices rose in dollar terms Wednesday. The Dow Jones World Stock Index gained 0.23 to 139.40.
