Stocks end mixed on new ‘fiscal cliff’ warning

Traders work the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.(Photo: David Karp, AP)

Story Highlights

• Shoppers flooded stores in record numbers over Black Friday weekend
• New White House report warns of unresolved ‘fiscal cliff’ economic consequences
• Oil prices jump nearly 1.5% on concerns about the Middle East

4:40PM EST November 26. 2012 –

NEW YORK (AP) — Major stock indexes ended mixed Monday after a warning from White House economists dampened what had been a huge weekend for retailers.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 42.31 points, 0.3%, to 12,967.37. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed down 2.88 points, 0.2%, to 1,406.29. The tech-laden Nasdaq composite index, boosted by gains in the shares of Facebook (FB)^[1] and Yahoo (YHOO)^[2], finished up 9.93 points, 0.3% to 2,976.78.

The price of crude oil closed up 1.4% to $86.67 on concerns about the Middle East. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak^[3] on Monday abruptly announced he was quitting politics, injecting new turmoil into that nation’s political scene weeks ahead of general elections.

TRACK STOCKS: Get real-time stock quotes with our free portfolio tracker^[4]

The euro gained a penny, 0.7%, to finish at 1.2969 against the dollar. And the price of gold fell $2.40, 0.1%, to close at $1,749.

Shoppers flooded stores in record numbers^[5] over the holiday weekend, according to the National Retail Federation. The organization says 247 million shoppers visited stores and websites during the Thanksgiving holiday, up 9.2% from last year. And investors are anxious to see how retailers fared on Cyber Monday^[6].

However, a new report from the National Economic Council^[7] and the Council of Economic Advisers said that if the current budget impasse remains unresolved, a sudden increase in taxes for middle-income taxpayers could reduce consumer spending nearly $200 billion in 2013.

In overseas trading^[8], European markets ended Monday lower on fears that a deal to allow Greece to get another round^[9] of bailout funding might elude the finance ministers of the 17-nation eurozone.

Following last week’s bout of optimism, which sent a number of stock indexes near 2012 highs and the euro back toward $1.30, some investors were expected to cash in on their gains.

In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 stock index closed down 0.6% to close at 5,786.72 while Germany’s DAX 30 finished 0.2% lower to 7,292.03. The CAC-40 index in France ended 0.8% to 3,500.94.

Earlier, Asian markets failed to make much headway. While Japan’s Nikkei 225 index ended up 0.2% to 9,388.94, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was sapped of momentum by lethargic mainland Chinese markets, closing 0.3% lower at 21,857.77.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.5% to 2,017.46 for the day while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index lost 1.4% to end Monday at 789.49.

Oil prices tracked equities lower, with the benchmark New York rate down 79 cents at $87.49 per barrel in electronic trading

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

References

1. ^{^} http://www.usatoday.com/money/tools/FB/ (www.usatoday.com)
2. ^{^} http://www.usatoday.com/money/tools/YHOO/ (www.usatoday.com)
3. ^{^} http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/11/26/israel-barak-politics-netanyahu/1726503/ (www.usatoday.com)
4. ^{^} https://sigfig.usatoday.com/ (sigfig.usatoday.com)
5. ^{^} http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2012/11/25/black-friday-weekend-wrap-up/1725279/ (www.usatoday.com)
6. ^{^} http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2012/11/26/cyber-monday-fast-bumpy-start/1727005/ (www.usatoday.com)
7. ^{^} http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2012/11/26/obama-cyber-monday-middle-class-tax-cuts/1726521/ (www.usatoday.com)
8. ^{^} http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/world-stocks/ (www.usatoday.com)
9. ^{^} http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2012/11/26/euro-greek-crisis/1726773/ (www.usatoday.com)