Barchart Stock Market Wrap – March 6, 2009

The battered financial sector rallied today on news that General Electric’s (GE) finance arm would retire $1.45 billion in debt. GE stock closed 6% higher on the news. The market which had been worried earlier in the week about banking stocks’ exposure to GE’s capital unit took the news positively.

And the rally in financials today helped offset the bad economic news that the February unemployment number reached 8.1%, higher than the predicted 7.9%.

Still, with both the Dow Jones and S&P indexes down more than 24% on the year, almost no one was taking today’s rally very seriously.

The Dow Jones Industrials closed up 33 points to close at 6,627 for a gain of 0.5% today. The S&P 500 Index was also higher, closing up 1 point for a gain of 0.1%.

April Comex gold futures continued to rise on safe haven buying, particularly after the February employment report was released, gaining nearly $10.
 

The spot April crude oil futures gained $2.30 to $45.91 in reaction to a weaker dollar and a belief that commodities  are a better investment in today’s market.

The March Dollar Index was lower by 50 points on the weaker economic news  in the form of the unemployment number.

Reports Due Monday:

No significant government or corporate earnings reports are expected on Monday.

Market Momentum: There were 1,114 advancing issues on the NYSE, with 1,963 declining issues. On the NASDAQ, there were 1,347 advancing issues with 1,419 declining.

New 52-week Highs: There were 3 issues reaching 52-week highs between the NYSE and NASDAQ

New 52-week Lows: There were 1,172 new 52-week lows on the NYSE and NASDAQ.