Posted on: Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Pre-election anxiety brings modest gains
By Michael J. Martinez
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Wall Street's pre-election jitters left stocks with only a modest gain yesterday, even as crude oil futures fell near the $50 per barrel mark. A mix of economic data added to the ambivalence.
"The oil picture certainly helps, but you still have a lot of people sitting on their hands," said Brian Belski, market strategist at Piper Jaffray. "There's not a lot of engagement overall, and there won't be until we see if there's a decisive winner on Wednesday. If there is, no matter who it is, we'll probably go higher."
Volume was lighter than usual as some investors sat out of the market prior to Election Day, and the major indexes moved in and out of positive territory in a narrow range.
Investors welcomed a 0.6 percent rise in consumer spending, coming after a 0.1 percent drop in August. However, the Commerce Department also noted that personal incomes rose by only 0.1 percent, and that the savings rate fell to 0.2 percent from 0.7 percent.
"The market's fundamentals are sound, but we're preoccupied by the election," said John Lynch, chief market analyst at Evergreen Investments.
Advancing issues barely edged decliners by nearly 4 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange, where preliminary consolidated volume came to 1.85 billion shares, compared with 1.92 billion on Friday.
A sharp drop in energy prices soothed the market. A barrel of light crude for December delivery closed at $50.13, down $1.63, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the lowest closing price since Oct. 4, when futures settled at $49.91 per barrel.
