26 August 2003, 12:59  Strong housing data fails to lift Wall St

Shares on Wall St closed lower overnight despite a strong housing report indicating that demand for property remains strong. The Dow Jones dipped 31.23 points to 9,317.64 and the Nasdaq eased a modest 1.01 points to 1,764.31, following a downbeat trading session in Europe, where trade was muted due to the lack of leads and the closure of the London market for a public holiday. Early in the session, a report showed that existing home sales jumped 5pc to a record annual rate of 6.12 million units, well above the 5.9 million rate expected.
The data indicates that the housing market remained robust last month even as mortgage rates shot up in reaction to rising bond yields. But the report failed to inspire buying, with many investors remaining on the sidelines until after the Labor Day holiday next Monday. On the industrial average, IBM lost 1.2pc and Intel eased 0.5pc, the latter slipping following a rally on Friday after it upped its revenue guidance. Caterpillar lost 2.8pc after brokers downgraded the construction vehicle maker. On the upside, Wal-Mart rose 1.2pc after boosting its August sales forecast, Microsoft added 1.1pc and McDonald's climbed 1.1pc. //www.fxcentre.com

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