LITTLE ROCK — Stocks posted solid gains for the third quarter, although the ride got bumpy at the end.
Stocks fell five days of the past six, including Friday, the last trading day of the quarter. But the big indexes are still up 4 percent or more for the three months. They’re ahead 10 percent or more for the year.
That’s despite all the anxiety about the euro, Iran and U.S. politics.
Actually, those worries are exactly why stocks are up, said Uri Landesman, who runs the Platinum Partners hedge fund. He notes that investors around the world feel that U.S. stocks look pretty good, compared to some of the alternatives.
“People are scared, and 2008 wasn’t that long ago, and Europe remains a problem,” he said. Those factors “are keeping the market up in the face of some really questionable economic data and questionable behavior by the Fed.”
Investors got some more of that iffy economic data Friday. The Commerce Department said consumer spending rose 0.5 percent in August, compared with July. That was a big jump - but it was driven by higher gasoline prices, rather than by spending on clothing, electronics and general merchandise. Consumer spending drives nearly 70 percent of economic activity.
The news pushed stocks lower. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 48.84 points to close at 13,437.13. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 6.48 points to 1,440.67. The Nasdaq composite index fell 20.37 points to 3,116.23. The losses had been steeper in the morning before stocks recovered somewhat around midday.
Consolidated volume was an average 3.3 billion shares.
Stocks fell in all industry groups in the S&P 500 except utilities. Telecommunications and information technology stocks had the biggest losses.
Many investors worry that the recent gains by stocks aren’t justified, considering the risks of a confrontation with Iran, weak corporate profits, and Europe’s troubles.
“People are wrestling with that disconnect, and trying to choose which chess pieces to move in anticipation” of whatever they think will happen next, said Lawrence Creatura, portfolio manager at Federated Investors.
Stocks in Europe fell. The CAC 40 in France fell 2.5 percent, the FTSE 100 in Britain was down 0.6 percent, and Germany’s DAX fell 1 percent.
Stocks finished higher in Asia on continued speculation that China’s central bank will act soon to help the world’s No. 2 economy.
For the year so far, the Dow is up 10 percent, the S&P 500 up almost 15 percent, and the Nasdaq is up 20 percent.
Business, Pages 32 on 09/29/2012