By Stewart Lewis
(May 25 – 17:30 ET) – The financial sector was targetted by investors in the U.S. today. Some of the stocks of Wall Street’s largest investment firms were hit. The drop began after a Merrill Lynch analyst said that Goldman Sachs is likely to fall short of its second-quarter earnings estimates.
Unfortunately, the ensuing drop took the air out of a burgeoning recovery. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 211.43 to 10,323.92. The NASDAQ composite index fell 65.21 to 3,205.40.
Merril Lynch, itself, was hurt in Canada. The stock dropped $5 on the TSE 300 composite index, ending the day at $147.05.
The TSE 300 fell from its morning gains. It ended the day off 100.46 points, albeit slightly above 9000 at 9043.7. Advancers led the morning, but by the end of the day, decliners led the race 623 to 478.
Contrary to analyst expectations, the Canadian dollar maintianed it strength today, ending the day substantially higher. Instead, the U.S. dollar failed to sustain some of its recent gains — a benefit to the loonie. The dollar closed at US66.5¢ up from US66.19¢ yesterday.
Analysts and traders had hoped some direction would come from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greensan, today. He spoke at a conference of Natioanl Urban Bankers on banking. He declined to discuss interest rates or the economy.