By Agency Reporter

United States stocks fell this week, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to the lowest level since January 31, after American and Chinese reports damped optimism about the global economy.

Bloomberg reported on Saturday, that Exxon Mobil Corporation lost 3.5 per cent since March 4, leading the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower, as oil fell by 3.1 per cent.

Finisar Corporation plunged by 46 per cent, driving down networking companies such as JDS Uniphase Corporation, after its profit forecast trailed analysts’ estimates.

The S&P 500 slipped by 1.3 per cent to 1,304.28 after closing at an almost six-week low of 1,295.11 on March 10. It surged by 28 per cent between August 26 and February 18 before slumping by 2.9 per cent.

The Dow retreated 125.48 points, or one per cent, to 12,044.40 this week after US jobless claims increased more than forecast, the American trade deficit widened and China’s export growth slowed.

“We’ve had a long run of the market going up,” said Giri Cherukuri, a money manager and head trader at Oakbrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois, which oversees $2.7bn. “It was more the trade deficit number that affected the market, the idea that the economy is not growing as much,” he added.

The S&P 500 pared its 2011 gain to 3.7 per cent this week as the bull market began its third year.

The benchmark measure of US equities has rallied by 93 per cent since sinking to a 12-year low on March 9, 2009, amid government stimulus measures and corporate profits that beat analysts’ estimates for eight straight quarters.

The Labour Department on March 10 said applications for first-time unemployment benefits rose by 26,000 to 397,000 in the week ended March 5.

Economists forecast that claims would climb to 376,000, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

The Commerce Department said on March 10 that the trade deficit in goods and services rose by 15 per cent to $46.3bn in January as a surge in imports led by costlier oil overshadowed record exports.

China’s unexpected $7.3bn trade deficit on March 10 was the biggest in seven years, buttressing the government’s case against US arguments for faster gains in the yuan.

Oil slumped by 1.5 per cent to $101.16 a barrel on Friday after falling by 3.6 per cent intraday for its biggest drop since November, as the earthquake in Japan shut refineries in the world’s third-largest oil-consuming nation. Oil had risen to a 29-month peak on March 7.

Source: Punch