Stock Market News for November 30, 2010

Lingering worries about Europe’s ability to contain a credit crisis, even as finance ministers of the European Union designed an $89 billion lifeline for Ireland, continued to weigh on global markets Monday. In the United States, markets reflected those worries as the Dow average nosedived below the psychologically important 11000 mark but value buying at lower levels helped the average stage a sharp recovery.

The Dow average fell 39.51 points, or 0.4%, to close at 11052.49, after plunging as much as 160 points during the session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 9.34 points, or 0.4%, to 2525.22. The widely followed S&P’s 500-stock index fell 1.64 points, or 0.1%, to 1187.76. On the New York Stock Exchange, about three stocks dropped in price for every two that advanced.

Investors still fretted about the prospects of other weak European economies – particularly Portugal and Spain, and even Belgium – defaulting on their debts. Those worries have lingered for a while now, and Sunday’s bailout of Ireland failed to stem these worries, even as cost of insuring Portuguese and Spanish debts continued to rise.

Meanwhile, the National Retail Federation estimated that shoppers spent 6.4% more during the holiday weekend. The data, however, failed to boost shares in retail companies. Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN - Analyst Report) fell 2.4%, Macy's (NYSE:M - Analyst Report) was down 2.2% and Dillard's fell 2.9%.

Investors continued to see value in gold and Treasury bonds, sending prices of these safe-haven assets higher. The yield on the 10-year note dropped to 2.83% from 2.87% Friday. Crude oil prices advanced $1.97 to $85.73 per barrel.

Only 11 of the Dow 30 components closed the session in the green, with American Express (NYSE:AXP - Analyst Report) up 2.5%, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Analyst Report) up 1.7%, DuPont (NYSE:DD - Analyst Report) up 1.3% and JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM - Analyst Report) and General Electric (NYSE:GE - Analyst Report) each closing the day 1.1% higher. However, a Gartner report that tablets would weigh on PC demand sent shares in Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ - Analyst Report) down 1.4%. Gartner said it now sees PC shipments to grow 14.3% in 2010, down from its earlier view of 17.9%.

Asian markets turned in a mixed performance today, with the Shanghai Composite index in Mainland China closing off 1.6% at a fresh, 7-week low. The Nikkei 225-stock average dropped 1.9%. India's Sensex, however, jumped 0.7% after reports said the economy grew a better-than-anticipated 8.9% during the July-September period.

Ahead of a number of key economic reports, US premarket futures suggest a modestly lower opening. Before the bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 49 points, or 0.4%, at 10, 980. Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell 7 points, or 0.6%, at 1,180. Nasdaq 100 futures closed off 16 points, or 0.7%, at 2,130.

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