CLOSING BELL

Dow 10609.65  -100.90, Nasdaq 2287.99  -28.75, S&P 1136.03  -12.43

The bears took over today and gave stocks their worst lost in four weeks.  The lose today came dispite better than expected earnings reports from Intel (INTC) 20.80 -0.68, -3.17% and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) 43.68 –1.01, -2.26%.

The latest batch of economic data did little for the market. December's Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased +0.1% month-over-month, which was a slightly lower increase than the +0.2% monthly increase that many economists had forecast.  The core rate which excludes food and energy, increased +0.1% month-over-month, as expected.

Industrial production in December increased +0.6%, as expected. Capacity utilization for December came in at 72.0%, which is on par with the 71.8% utilization rate that many had come to expect.

The preliminary January Consumer Sentiment Survey from University of Michigan came in at 72.8, which was slightly below the expected reading of 74.0.

There was major weakness in banks today, the lose that bank stocks posted today caused the Financial sector to decline -2.0% making it the worst performing sector.

The stronger dollar today didn’t help stocks.  The dollar was higher on rumors that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is going to resign and continued concerns over Greece’s financial health .

U.S. markets will be closed this coming Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. However, next week has more than 100 companies scheduled to report their latest quarterly results.


Advancing Sectors: (None)


Declining Sectors: Financials -2.0%, Telecom -1.4%, Tech -1.3%, Industrials -1.2%, Materials -1.1%, Consumer Discretionary -0.9%, Energy -0.8%, Consumer Staples -0.7%, Utilities -0.6%, Health Care -0.4%