NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Nasdaq gained Wednesday, thanks to a tech rally, but the broader market meandered, with financials sliding after Standard & Poor's cut its outlook on 22 banks.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost almost 7 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 (SPX) index fell 1 point, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) advanced 12 points, or 0.7%.

Stocks zigzagged through the session as investors considered the corporate news, President Obama's plan for an overhaul of financial market regulation and a tame reading on consumer inflation.

Stocks fell the first two days of the week on worries that the recession could drag on longer than has been anticipated.

Thursday brings a slew of economic news, including weekly jobless claims from the Labor Department, the Conference Board's May index of leading economic indicators and the Philadelphia Fed index, a regional read on manufacturing.

Stock rally slows: Bets that the economy is close to stabilizing fed a three-month stock rally that lifted all three major gauges into positive territory for the year. After bottoming at a more than 12-year low on March 9, the S&P 500 gained as much as 40% before pulling back. It currently stands 35% above the lows, through Wednesday's close.

"The stock rally is stalling out but it should continue at least in the short term," said David Chalupnik, head of equities at First American Funds.

He said that the economic numbers have mostly been in line with or not as bad as expected, and that this trend looks like it should continue, despite a few recent readings that were fairly mixed. Equities are also bound to get a boost as the quarter winds down over the next two weeks, with institutions and individuals wanting to put money to work before closing the books.

The amount of cash sitting in money market funds is astounding, he said, and that money should continue trickling in to the market.

But in order for the rally to keep going beyond the short term, investors will need to see sustained improvement in economic news that will drive earnings growth and justify further stock gains. Second-quarter profit reports are due to start pouring in in about a week and are expected to show continued declines.

"In the last week, the economic numbers have been more mixed and the rally has stalled out," he said. "The risk is that the economic recovery stalls too, and then stocks would be in trouble."

On the move: Tech gainers included Dow components Cisco Systems (CSCO, Fortune 500), Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), as well as non-Dow stocks Qualcomm (QCOM, Fortune 500), Broadcom (BRCM, Fortune 500) and Texas Instruments (TXN, Fortune 500).

The Dow's other big gainers included 3M (MMM, Fortune 500) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Fortune 500).

But the gains were tempered by a retreat in financial shares after Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit ratings of 22 banks, including Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500), Fifth Third (FITB, Fortune 500) and KeyCorp (KEY, Fortune 500).

S&P said operating conditions for the industry will get worse as financial markets become more volatile and regulatory supervision gets tighter.

Market breadth was mixed and volume picked up after several sessions of light trading. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners four to three on volume of almost 1.32 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners seven to six on volume of 2.54 billion shares.

Financial Reform: President Obama unveiled details Wednesday afternoon on how he plans to reorganize the way banks and other firms are regulated in the wake of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

The plan includes giving increased power to the Federal Reserve to monitor the financial system and also increased Treasurys responsibilities. Obama also proposed creating a consumer watchdog agency to track mortgage and credit card practices.

Corporate news: FedEx (FDX, Fortune 500) reported a wider fourth-quarter loss that missed sales expectations but beat on a per-share-basis. The delivery firm, often seen as a proxy for the economy, forecast earnings of 30 cents to 45 cents per share in the current quarter, versus Wall Street's forecasts for a profit of 68 cents per share.

FedEx's management gave a mixed outlook. The company's chief executive said there are signs that the worst of the recession is over, and the chief financial officer said the operating environment in the first two quarters in fiscal 2010 is going to be extremely difficult.

FedEx shares dropped modestly.

Bonds: Treasury prices rallied, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.60% from 3.66% Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Currency and commodities: U.S. light crude oil for July delivery rose 56 cents to settle at $71.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for August delivery gained $3.80 to settle at $936 an ounce.

In currency trading, the dollar tumbled versus the euro and yen, falling for the second session in a row.

Economy: Wednesday's economic news brought some relief. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), measure of consumer inflation, posted a decline of 1.3% over the past year, the biggest year-over-year decline since 1950.

The report also showed that inflation has not picked up in the last month, despite rising oil and gas prices and trillions in government spending.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.1% in May, versus forecasts for an increase of 0.3%, according to economists surveyed by Briefing.com. CPI was flat in April.

The so-called core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.1% in May, meeting forecasts. Core CPI rose 0.3% in April. 

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 16 points, or 0.2% around 30 minutes into the session. The S&P 500 (SPX) index lost 4 points, or about 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 6 points, or 0.3%.

Manus Cranny, market analyst at MF Global in London, said before the opening bell that lackluster trading activity stems from the general assessment -- partly influenced by recent comments from President Obama -- that "it's going to be a much harder road to recovery than was expected."

Cranny said the downturn in the stock market so far this week is the result of rallies that "got way ahead of our expectations."

U.S. stocks have tumbled the past two days, dragged lower by concerns that the global economic recovery is not on stable footing. On Tuesday, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all shed about 1%.

Financial reform: The White House outlined Obama's plan to restructure how banks and other firms are regulated late Tuesday. Obama is due to provide more details Wednesday.

Among his proposals are expansion of the role of the Treasury Department and the creation of a consumer watchdog that will monitor mortgage and credit card practices.

Economy: The government's release of the Consumer Price Index shows lower-than-expected inflation at the consumer level.

The CPI rose 0.1% in May, lower than the 0.3% increase expected by a consensus of economists from Briefing.com. CPI was flat in April.

The core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, edged up 0.1% in May, matching consensus expectations from Briefing.com consensus. In the prior month, it rose 0.3%.

For the year, consumer prices plunged 1.3%, the biggest annual drop since 1950.

Companies: The delivery company FedEx (FDX, Fortune 500) reported a loss of $2.82 per diluted share for the quarter ended May 31. This includes charges from the acquisition of Kinko's and Watkins Motor Lines.

FedEx also projected earnings of 30 to 45 cents per diluted share in the current quarter. Chief Executive Frederick Smith said, in a press release, "there are signs that the worst of the recession is behind us."

World markets: Most Asian stocks fell, but Japan's Nikkei bucked the trend and finished nearly 1% higher. Major markets in Europe were lower in midday trading.

Oil and money: The price of oil fell 72 cents a barrel to $69.75.

The dollar was mixed, slipping against the euro and the yen but up versus the British pound. 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks tumbled Tuesday, falling for a second session in a row on continued worries that the pace of the recession is not waning as much as has been hoped.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 107 points, or 1.3%. The S&P 500 (SPX) index lost 12 points, or about 1.3% and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 20 points, or 1.1%.

Better-than-expected reports on housing and wholesale inflation gave stocks a boost early in the session. But the advance was tepid and soon lost momentum as concerns about the economy reared up again.

Declines were broad-based, with 28 of 30 Dow stocks falling, led by Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500), McDonald's (MCD, Fortune 500), 3M (MMM, Fortune 500), Boeing (BA, Fortune 500) and Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500). Dow oil components Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) and Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) both slipped as well.

The markets have been rallying for three months as investors have bet that the economy is closer to stabilizing. Since bottoming March 9 at a more than 12-year low, the S&P 500 has added 35%, as of Tuesday's close.

But the advance has lost steam in the last few sessions on worries that the rally may have gotten ahead of any actual evidence of a recovery.

Markets had gotten "oversold" through March 9, bringing in buyers, said Haag Sherman, managing director at Salient Partners. But for the rally to have legs over a sustained period of time, economic data would need to come on strong, he said. And the fundamentals of the economy don't support that right now.

"The rate of decline is slowing and we are probably in a bottoming process," he said. "But once you get through that, I don't see what the catalyst is for growth."

He said that when the money from the Obama administration's $787 billion stimulus plan kicks in later this year or early in 2010, the market will get another push higher -- but until then the trend is probably "sideways to lower."

Wednesday brings readings on April consumer inflation, the first-quarter current account balance and the weekly oil inventories.

FedEx (FDX, Fortune 500) reports quarterly results in the morning. The package delivery firm is expected to have earned 52 cents per share versus $1.45 a year ago.

After the close Tuesday, Adobe Systems (ADBE) said second-quarter sales and earnings dropped from a year ago. However, the software maker's sales topped estimates and earnings met estimates.

Economy: Tuesday brought a slew of economic news, most of which supported bets that the pace of the recession is slowing.

May housing starts rallied 17.2% to an annualized rate of 532,000, from a revised 454,000 in the previous month, the Census Bureau reported. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected 485,000 starts.

Building permits, a measure of builder confidence, rose 4% in May to an annualized rate of 518,000 from a rate of 498,000 in April. That was better than the 508,000 unit annual rate economists expected.

However, the improvements were modest, with new home starts in May still down sharply from two years ago. (Full story)

In other economic news, the Producer Price Index (PPI), a measure of wholesale inflation, gained 0.2% in May after rising 0.3% in April, the Labor Department reported. Economists thought it would rise 0.6%. So-called core PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, fell 0.1% in May after rising 0.1% in April. Economists thought it would rise 0.1%.

The 5% annual rate of decline for PPI was the sharpest since 1949.

On the downside, the Federal Reserve said industrial production fell a greater-than-expected 1.1% in May, while capacity utilization fell to 68.3%, the lowest level since the Fed started keeping records in 1967.

Currencies and commodities: In currency trading, the dollar tumbled versus the euro and yen. The U.S. currency had strengthened after weekend comments from the Group of Eight finance ministers' meeting seemed to support a stronger dollar.

The slide in the dollar propelled dollar-traded commodities.

U.S. light crude oil for July delivery fell 15 cents to settle at $70.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for August delivery rose $4.70 to settle at $932.20 an ounce.

Bonds: Treasury prices rallied, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.66% from 3.72% Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Other news: In global trading, Asian markets tumbled and European ended mixed.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners seven to three on volume of almost 1.18 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by more than two to one on volume of 2.28 billion shares.  

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added a few points nearly 30 minutes into the session. The S&P 500 (SPX) index gained 3 points or 0.4% and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) added 8 points, or 0.5%.

U.S. stocks fell sharply Monday as commodities prices dropped and investors worried about the recovery of the global economy.

Economy: Housing starts jumped 17% to the annual rate of 532,000 in May, from a revised 454,000 the prior month. That's much higher than the 485,000 forecast by a consensus of economists, according to Briefing.com.

Building permits, an important signal for upcoming housing activity, rose 4% to the annual rate of 518,000 in May, from April's rate of 498,000. This was higher than the rate of 508,000 expected by Briefing.com consensus.

The Producer Price Index (PPI), a measure of prices at the wholesale level, edged up 0.2% in May, compared to an increase of 0.3% in April. This is the less than the 0.6% that was expected by Briefing.com consensus.

The core PPI, excluding food and energy prices, slipped 0.1% in May, compared to its 0.1% increase the prior month. Briefing.com consensus had expected it to edge up 0.1%.

On the negative side, industrial production decreased a greater-than-expected 1.1% in May, with capacity utilization plunging to 68.3%, the lowest level since record keeping began in 1967.

Companies: The European arm of General Motors (GMGMQ) said it has reached a deal to sell Saab to Sweden's Koenigsegg. The deal had been widely expected.

World markets: Stocks in Asia fell sharply, with Japan's Nikkei losing nearly 3%. European markets were higher in afternoon trading.

Oil and money: The price of oil jumped $1.53 per barrel to $72.15.

The dollar fell against major international currencies, including the euro, the yen and the British pound. 

 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks slumped Monday as weaker oil prices and more geopolitical unrest raised worries that the recession may not be waning as soon as some had hoped.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 187 points, or 2.1%. After ending last week in positive territory, the Dow is now back in the red for 2009.

The S&P 500 (SPX) index lost 22 points, or 2.4% and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) fell 42 points, or 2.3%.

Wall Street has been steadily rising for three months on bets that the pace of the recession is waning, with the S&P 500 up 40% during that period. But a lack of new evidence to support the rally has left stocks rangebound over the last few weeks.

"People are re-evaluating the run up," said Kim Caughey, senior equity analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group.

In the short term, she said that comments coming out of the Group of Eight finance ministers' meeting last weekend were exacerbating worries about the health of the global economy.

"At the conference, some countries expressed interest in pulling back on spending and that has some investors worried," Caughey said. "We're looking for those mythical green shoots of the recovery and you have people saying they are going to take the fertilizer away."

She said the ongoing weakness in the labor market and the outlook for consumer spending were also in play. And investors are starting to conclude that second-quarter results due out next month are going to remain lackluster.

"I think a selloff was way overdue," said Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Canaccord Adams. "There are some encouraging signs out there, but we are still in a recession."

In addition, geopolitical factors were in force, he said. "I think Iran adds fuel to the fire. But we also had comments from North Korea over the weekend about nuclear weapons, and that's a factor too."

A falling dollar has given a boost to oil, gold and other dollar-traded commodities of late, as well as the underlying commodity stocks. But the dollar was mixed Monday and the price of oil settled at $70.62.

Tuesday: A heavy spate of economic news is on tap, including reports on May housing starts and building permits. The Census Bureau readings, due before the start of trading, are expected to show modest improvements from earlier levels.

The June Producer Price Index (PPI), a measure of wholesale inflation, is also due out before the start of trade. The release, from the Labor Department, is expected to have risen from May levels, as is so-called core PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices.

The Federal Reserve releases its reports on industrial production and capacity utilization shortly before the start of trading.

On the move: Oil stocks such as Dow components Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) and Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) retreated. The Amex Oil index lost 2.8%.

Other commodity stocks fell in active trade as well, including aluminum producers such as Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500) and gold producers such as Yamana Gold (AUY).

But, declines were broad-based. A variety of tech shares slipped, dragging on the Nasdaq, including Intel (INTC, Fortune 500), Cisco Systems (CSCO, Fortune 500), Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) and eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500).

Intel and Cisco are Dow stocks. The Dow's other big losers were Boeing (BA, Fortune 500), United Technologies (UTX, Fortune 500), 3M (MMM, Fortune 500), General Electric (GE, Fortune 500), Merck (MRK, Fortune 500), Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, Fortune 500) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Fortune 500).

All but 2 of the 30 Dow stocks suffered losses, with American Express (AXP, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) the two gainers.

Declines were broad-based across other major indexes as well.

Market breadth was negative and trading volume was moderate. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners by over five to one on volume of 1.15 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by almost four to one on volume of 2.19 billion shares.

Iranian elections: The disputed presidential election has sparked violent protests in Iran, as reformist leader Mir Hossein Moussavi's declared loss to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has raised questions of ballot fraud. Iran has agreed to a ballot probe. (Full story)

In other geopolitical news, on Saturday, North Korea said it would strengthen its nuclear capacities, despite the U.N. Security Council's move to increase sanctions against it.

Currencies and commodities: In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the euro and fell against the yen, following comments from Russia's finance minister that seemed to support a stronger dollar.

The movement in the dollar contributed to a retreat in oil and gold prices.

U.S. light crude oil for July delivery fell $1.42 to settle at $70.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for August delivery fell $13.20 to settle at $927.50 an ounce.

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas rose to $2.67 Monday, according to AAA. Prices have risen for 48 days straight, adding 62 cents, or over 30%.

Bonds: Treasury prices rallied as investors sought safety in government debt. The 10-year note yield added 18/32, lowering the yield to 3.72% from 3.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Washington: President Obama will release details Wednesday of a broad overhaul of how financial markets are regulated.

On Monday morning, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called the nation's current regulatory system a "spectacle." Geithner spoke at an economic discussion sponsored by CNNMoney parent Time Warner.

He said that the recent stock market rally is a "broad validation" of the administration's efforts to get the economy back on track, but also said that the economy faced an "enormously challenging period ahead."

Health care reform is also front and center this week, including questions about whether workers' health care benefits should be taxed.

Economy: New York manufacturing conditions continued to retreat in June, according to the Empire State index. Conditions fell to negative 9.4 in June from negative 4.6 in May. Any reading below zero indicates weakness.

Other news: In global trading, Asian and European markets tumbled. 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The stock selloff accelerated Monday morning as investors dumped a variety of shares across the board, influenced by protests in Iran regarding the disputed presidential election and a slump in commodity prices and stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost as much as 212 points before recovering some, posting a decline of 200 points, or 2.3%, nearly 90 minutes into the session. The Dow, after ending last week in positive territory, slipped back into the red for 2009.

The S&P 500 (SPX) index lost 22 points, or 2.3% and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) fell 50 points, or 2.7%.

Wall Street has been rising for three months on bets that the pace of the recession is waning, with the S&P 500 up 40% in the span. But a lack of new evidence to support the rally has left stocks rangebound over the last few weeks.

A falling dollar has given a boost to oil, gold and other dollar-traded commodities of late, as well as the underlying commodity stocks. But the dollar was mixed Monday and the price of oil dipped modestly. Oil stocks such as Dow components Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) and Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) retreated as well.

However, declines were broad-based. In addition to oil stocks, the Dow's other big losers were defense and aerospace components Boeing (BA, Fortune 500) and United Technologies (UTX, Fortune 500), 3M (MMM, Fortune 500), Merck (MRK, Fortune 500), Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, Fortune 500) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Fortune 500).

Currencies and commodities: In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the euro and fell against the yen, following comments from Russia's finance minister that seemed to support a stronger dollar.

The movement in the dollar contributed to a retreat in oil and gold prices.

U.S. light crude oil for July delivery fell $1.15 to $70.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for August delivery fell $6.50 to $934.20 an ounce.

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas rose to $2.67 a gallon on Monday, according to AAA. Prices have risen for 48 days straight, adding 62 cents or over 30%.

Iranian elections: The disputed presidential election has sparked violent protests in Iran, as reformist leader Mir Hossein Moussavi's declared loss to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has raised questions of ballot fraud. Iran has agreed to a ballot probe. (Full story)

Economy: NY manufacturing conditions continued to retreat in June, according to the Empire State index. Conditions fell to negative 9.4 in June from negative 4.6 in May. Any reading below zero indicates weakness.

Other news: In global trading, Asian markets tumbled and European markets slumped in afternoon trading.