Steel Stocks Are Holding Back the Stock Market Today
Stocks were generally quiet on Thursday morning, with major benchmarks recovering from opening losses to climb back above the unchanged mark later in the morning session. Many were disappointed to see initial claims for unemployment benefits remain at elevated levels, pouring cold water on the bull case for a quick economic recovery. Yet investors also have high hopes that reopening businesses could be a catalyst to get many of those people back to work. Just after 11 a.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) was up 12 points to 26,132. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) gained 4 points to 3,117, and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) picked up 34 points to 9,945.
We're in the lull between the peaks of quarterly earnings seasons, but some companies are still letting investors know how they're doing. U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) rattled shareholders yesterday with its outlook for the coming quarter, sending the steelmaker's stock falling. Today, U.S. Steel saw more losses as it took another step toward trying to deal with all the consequences from the current industrial slowdown.
Shares of U.S. Steel were down 11% Thursday morning, adding to their 10% loss from Wednesday. The initial decline came after the steelmaker released its fiscal second-quarter financial results, and today's drop continued to build on an increasingly dour outlook for the company.
Source Fool.com
