The Globe and Mail

 

Blogs

Friday, July 10, 2009 11:02 AM

Sentiment slips, but stocks stay steady

David Berman

Investors appear to be shrugging over the latest disappointment: The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index slumped in June, falling to 64.6. That’s below the level of 70 that economists had forecast and a dip from 70.8 in May.

As BMO Nesbitt Burns pointed out, its the biggest drop in sentiment since October and is the first drop since February.

“And I suppose I should mention that all of the gains made over the past three months...gone. Disappeared. Poof. Tumbleweeds rolling,” said Jennifer Lee, an economist at BMO.

Still, it might not be the biggest of surprises, which is perhaps why stock markets have been relatively calm since the data’s release. Job losses continue at an alarming pace, with last week’s official U.S. payrolls data for June coming in far worse than expected. And consumer spending, reflected by a sharp downturn in sales at stores open for at least one year, remains dismal.

In late morning trading, the S&P 500 was down 3 points or 0.4 per cent, to 879 – a little higher than its level earlier in the day.

Latest Comments

Most recent posts from the Market Blog

At the close: Markets push past weak jobs data Nov 06, 2009 4:58PM EST

Canaccord bets a nickel Nov 06, 2009 2:47PM EST

At noon: Seeking direction Nov 06, 2009 12:38PM EST

Is the Fed herding investors to the slaughter? Nov 06, 2009 11:33AM EST

More business and investing posts

Number Cruncher

Smaller gold miners show their lustre Nov 07, 2009 3:03AM EST

Fund Watch

Analysts slap "sell" rating on Sprott Nov 06, 2009 11:44AM EST

Markets Blog Contributors

David Berman

David Berman

David Berman has been writing about business and investing since 1995. He began his career at Canadian Business magazine, where he wrote full-length features on a range of topics, from goose slaughterers to broadcasters. Later, he moved to MoneySense magazine, where his emphasis turned to investing. More recently, he worked at the Financial Post as an investing writer and daily columnist. He has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto and studied journalism at Ryerson University.

 

David Parkinson

David Parkinson has been covering business and financial markets since 1990, and has been with The Globe and Mail since 2000. A Calgary native, he received a Southam Fellowship from the University of Toronto in 1999-2000, studying international political economics.

 
Globe and Mail Reporter Simon Avery.

Simon Avery

Simon Avery has covered telecom and technology for the Globe since 2004. Previously, he was a staff reporter for The Associated Press in Los Angeles and for The Wall Street Journal in San Francisco. He covered the boom and bust in Silicon Valley for the Financial Post between 1998 and 2001. Mr. Avery holds a Master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in English and political science from the University of Western Ontario.