Financial Markets January 2009

Stocks closed out their worst January ever with another slide on Friday after data showed the economy contracted at the fastest pace in nearly 27 years in the fourth quarter.

Uncertainty about the fate of a plan by the Obama administration to relieve banks of money-losing assets added to the bearish tone, with Citigroup (C.N) plunging 9 percent and Bank of America (BAC.N) dropping 3 percent.

Procter & Gamble Co (PG.N), the maker of Pampers diapers, Gillette razors and Tide laundry detergent, was the Dow's top drag, sliding 6.4 percent, after its quarterly profit missed expectations. P&G also added its name to a growing list of companies cutting outlooks.

"We're in for another tough year," said Dean Barber, president of investment firm Barber Financial Group in Kansas City.

"You have consumer sentiment at an all-time low, job losses that have exceeded the total number of job losses in the '81-'82 recession, we're 13 months into the latest recession, so people feel bad."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 148.15 points, or 1.82 percent, to 8,000.86. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX slid 19.26 points, or 2.28 percent, to 825.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC tumbled 31.42 points, or 2.08 percent, to 1,476.42.

DOW, S&P OFF OVER 8 PERCENT IN JANUARY

Both the Dow and the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX suffered their worst January ever, with the Dow down 8.8 percent and the S&P down 8.6 percent. The Nasdaq dropped 6.4 percent in January.

January performance traditionally serves as a harbinger for stocks for the rest of the year.

Analysts said the sharp declines in the shares of companies traditionally considered better positioned to ride out an economic downturn underscored the severity of the pessimism.

For the week, the Dow declined 0.95 percent, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.73 percent, and the Nasdaq edged down 0.06 percent.

Goldman Sachs' chief U.S. equity strategist David Kostin said in a research note the brokerage expected the S&P 500 to retest its bear market low of November during the first quarter, before rising to their 1,100 year-end target.

The S&P 500 is up about 10 percent from the November 21 intraday low after starting 2009 up more than 20 percent.

P&G, CITIGROUP AND APPLE FALL
http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUSTRE50K4DA20090131