Financials and energy shares weigh on Wall Street

NEW YORK - Stocks fell on Monday as shares of energy and commodity-related companies tumbled on falling oil and metals prices and investors worried the housing slump could fuel further losses at financial companies.

The drop in the price of oil and other commodities was partly on concern that a global slowdown would blunt demand. Exxon Mobil shares dropped nearly 4 per cent, while miner Freeport McMoran's shares slid 12 per cent.

The tone for the financial sector was set early in the session, after HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, reported a 28 per cent drop in first-half profit as it took a US$14 billion hit from bad debts on US home loans and asset write-downs. Wachovia Corp fell almost 10 per cent after a Wall Street analyst suggested investors unload shares of the fourth-largest US bank.

US economic data pointing to mounting inflation pressures added to the market's concerns, as did news that WCI Communities, a major US home builder, had filed for bankruptcy.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 42.17 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 11,284.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 11.30 points, or 0.90 per cent, to 1,249.01, while the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 25.40 points, or 1.10 per cent, to 2,285.56.

US crude fell US$3.69, or 2.95 per cent, to settle at US$121.41 a barrel after earlier slipping below US$120.

Source: Singapore Business Times - 05 Aug 2008