Today's Market

Wall Street was able to shake off the slow start to the day. After trading lower for most of today’s session, the market staged a late rally to end the day essentially mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished five points higher, at 10,409. The other two major U.S. stock indexes, the NASDAQ Composite and the S&P 500, were virtually unchanged from yesterday’s close.

The housing industry, which has been one of the few sectors not to join the slow, albeit uneven economic recovery, took another hit today with the release of some disappointing construction data. Home construction and applications for permits fell markedly in May, absent the government’s $8,000 homebuyer tax credit. A continuation of this trend could have a negative impact on future job creation—which would not be welcome news given the nation’s high jobless rate. Worries about the effect of the ongoing housing woes on the economy contributed to the early morning selloff.

The poor report on housing overshadowed more promising reports on the economy, most notably news that inflation at the wholesale level remains in check and that industrial production continued to rise in May—the third straight positive monthly reading.

The middle day of the trading week also brought some big news on the ongoing Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Under intense pressure from the Obama Administration, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg confirmed that the British petroleum giant has agreed to set aside an initial $20 billion to pay victims of the oil spill. Mr. Svanberg also announced that BP has canceled a dividend payment—totaling $2.6 billion—scheduled for June 21st. The company also won’t declare a dividend for the second or third quarters. Battered shares of the oil company finished the day up nearly 2%.

Meanwhile, bond prices rose slightly after retreating some on Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves in the opposite direction of the price, slipped modestly, to 3.28%. Results in the commodities markets were also mixed, with the price of crude oil edging slightly higher, to $77.59 per barrel, while gold was down nearly $4.00 on the day, closing at $1,229.30 per ounce.