Stocks Closed Lower for the Sixth Straight Week (AAPL, AIG, AKS, BAC, BP, C, CSCO, CVX, MCP, POT, SCCO, SLV, TRV, XOM)

Published on Saturday, 11 June 2011 18:36 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

Weston, June 11^th (Tradershuddle.com) – Stocks fell for the sixth straight week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average failing below 12,000 and the NASDAQ turning negative for the year, amid increasing fears of weakness in the global economy after weakness in China’s exports and a grim outlook in U.S. economic growth by Fed Chief, Ben Bernanke.

For the week, the blue chip index fell 1.64%, the S&P 500 Index lost 2.24% and the NASDAQ tumbled 3.26%.

At the start of week stocks fell for the 4th consecutive day, closing near their worst levels of the session, amid worries over the pace of the economic recovery following last week’s weak economic data. Market sentiment was under pressure and not even Apple was able to generate buzz and a bid with Steve Jobs Kicking off its World’s Development Conference.

All of the key S&P 500 sectors finished in negative territory, with energy and financials leading the declines. Energy shares were under pressure all session long, losing 2% collectively. Selling coincided with crude oil slipping back below $100 per barrel. Demand concerns, following last week's poor economic data, and discussions that OPEC will hike output production at its Wednesday's meeting, pushed crude oil lower.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX), the second largest U.S. energy producer, lost 1.31% to $99.86, closing 0.07% above its calculated support at $99.61, on lower crude oil prices and as some speculate that the energy giant will look to acquire a natural gas play, joining fellow Dow component Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), the largest U.S. energy producer, which bought natural gas play XTO Energy last year. Exxon Mobil fell 1.1% to $80.29. Both actually were among the best performers in the space.

Oil services providers were under heavy pressure, clearly under performing the broad market index and the energy sector, with the Oil Services HOLDRS (NYSE:OIH) tumbling 3.39% to $147.18, closing 2.43% above calculated support at $143.61. Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was among the biggest decliners in the space, with shares falling 4.46% to $48.04 ahead of the RBC Capital Markets Global Energy and Power Conference.

Despite lower oil prices, airlines were under pressure after the International Air Transport Association estimated airlines would earn about $4 billion this year, down from $18 billion last year. United Continental (NYSE:UAL), the world’s largest airline once United and Continental operate as one airline, tumbled 3.26% to $21.99 and closed just 0.36% above calculated support at $21.91.

Financials continued to underperform, with the S&P 500 Financial Index trading at its lowest level since early December. Big banks were heavily impacted today on concern over their earnings potential amid weak economic growth. Citigroup (NYSE:C), the third largest U.S. bank, was the biggest decliner amid big banks with shares falling 4.47% to $38.07, with the stock extending its yearly decline to 19.51%.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), the Charlotte, NC based bank and the bank with the biggest exposure to the U.S. consumer through its mortgage and consumer loans, was hit the hardest, tumbling 3.99% to $10.83 after trading as low as $10.75, posting a new 52-week low. The stock has been out of favor for most of the year so far, falling more than 18% year to date. In June the stock is down more than 7.8%, which follows the 4.3% drop in May.

Materials saw some relative strength versus the broad market index, as precious metals gained for the session and copper saw a slight bid on the back of supply disruptions in Chile on news of a strike at the El Teniente mine. Gold gained 0.3% to settle at $1546.80 per ounce while silver finished up 1.8% to $36.84 per ounce, as demand for precious metals increased amid the economic uncertainty.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO), the copper producer with operations in Mexico and Peru, plunged 11.35% to $30.78, breaking calculated support at $32.92, after former army rebel leader Ollanta Humala claimed victory in the presidential runoff election, sparking concern its administration will seek greater control of the economy and the natural resources. Peruvian stock fell sharply, the most in two decades on the news.

Technology held near the neutral line for the first part of the session, with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, trading in positive territory ahead of the start of the Development Conference. But however the stock sold off after Steve Jobs unveiling of the OS X Lion, iOS 5, and the new iCloud failed to generate an underlying bid. Apple dropped 1.57% to $338.04, braking below its 50day moving average at $342.23, dragging the tech sector and the broad market lower.

Steve Jobs made a return from its medical leave for the conference, as the company unveiled its iCloud service, its iTunes cloud service, in an effort to keep Google’s Android at bay. Steve Jobs said that there are 54 million Mac users, outgrowing the industry every quarter for the past 5 years. He said the new Mac OS (Lion) would have multi-touch gestures and full screen apps among 250 new features. He also mentioned that the Mac Store is now the top channel for buying PC Software ahead of Best Buy and Wal-Mart.

Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), the world’s third largest pc maker, gained 2.02% to $15.91, on speculation the PC company will buy Broadcom (NASDAQ:BRCM), the provider of chips that enable broadband digital data transmission, and after a research company said that PC sales will only grow by 4.2% this year, revising down an earlier forecast of 7.1% growth.

Also on the tech front, Sony (NYSE:SNE) fell 2.355 to  $25.76 after news of a cyber-attack on its European website, extending recent losses made in the wake of earlier hacking incidents that resulted in data breaches.

Casino stocks were also under pressure, with Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS), the owner and operator of casino resorts and convention centers in the U.S., Macau, and Singapore, tumbled 3.94% to $40.42, closing 2.05% above calculated support at $39.59, after Deutsche Bank dropped the stock out of its short term Buy List.

On Tuesday, the market started in positive territory, as it rebounded after four straight sessions of losses, amid modest gains in Europe and mixed performance in Asia.

In Asia, stocks ended mixed amid mounting concerns over the global economic growth outlook. The Nikkei saw a strong rebound, snapping a 3-day losing streak, while China gained 0.6% despite news reports suggesting interest rate and reserve ratios hikes over the next weekend.

European markets finished in positive territory, but near the neutral line following a 4-day slide, as growth concerns and the euro zoned debt crisis continue to weigh on sentiment.

Among the key S&P 500 sectors, materials and healthcare posted the biggest percentage gains, while technology and financials posted the worst performances. Financials had been trading in positive territory for most of the session, but the sector turned lower as Bernanke start speaking towards the end of the session.

The Fed Chairman said that U.S. economic growth so far this year looks to have been somewhat slower than expected and a number of indicators also suggest some loss in momentum in labor markets in recent weeks.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) turned negative in afternoon trading after trading as high as $11.05 on concern over the impact of slower economic growth in its bottom line. The stock posted a new 52-week low at $10.60 and posted the second largest percentage decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as shares fell 2.66% to $10.65.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF), the Alabama based regional bank, was able to post gains in the sector, as shares ended 0.33% higher at $6.07. The regional lender said that it had signed a definite agreement to purchase $1 billion in credit card accounts from FIA Card Services, a Bank of America credit card subsidiary, with the deal expected to close during the second quarter.

Crude oil settled a near the neutral mark at $99.09 per barrel, erasing all of its earlier losses. Crude oil had moved deep into negative territory after reports surfaced that Saudi Arabia would raise its production output by 500,000 barrels regardless of the outcome of tomorrow's OPEC meeting and a separate report indicated that OPEC would hike production by as much as 1.5 million barrels per day.

Big oil was weak, with Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) falling 0.36% to $80, after trading as low as $79.97 and as high as $81.09. Exxon closed 0.73% above calculated support at $79.42.

Meanwhile, oil services and drillers, showed some strength with the Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI), the solutions provider for the oil and gas industry, was adding 0.48% to $72.58 and extending its gains 0.61% in after hours on a report from Dahlman Rose & Co stating that global spending on oil and gas exploration and production might grow 14% in 2011.

The Dollar declined to a 1-month low on concern over the U.S. economic growth outlook and as Chinese officials showed concern over its U.S. asset holdings. Ben Bernanke said that the Central Bank should maintain record monetary stimulus to boost an unevenly and frustratingly slow economic recovery.

Materials finished as the best performing sector in the S&P 500, adding 0.3% for the day. Precious metals rebounded from their worst levels of the session and finished mixed at the close of pit trade with gold down $3.40 to $1543.80 and silver up $0.29 at $37.08.

iShares Silver Trust ETF (NYSE:SLV), the fund that corresponds to the price of silver owned by the Trust less expenses and liabilities, gained 1.15% to $36.12 as silver prices traded above $37 an ounce level, rebounding from morning lows as the Dollar weakened. The trust has a year to date gain of more than 19.68%, with in June so far falling 3.93%, which follows a 19.79% plunge in May.

But the sector was buoyed by International Paper’s (NYSE:IP) offer to buy Temple-Inland (NYSE:TIN) for $30.60 per share in an all-cash transaction. The unsolicited bid was quickly rejected Temple-Inland’s board saying that it grossly undervalues the company despite International Paper offering more than a 45% premium over Monday’s closing price. Shares of Temple-Inland surged 40.36% to $29.49, while International Paper gained 0.44% to $29.78.

Also in the sector, rebounding from yesterday’s sharp sell-off, Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) gained 1.66% to $31.29, as analysts remained split on what those a Humala administration will mean for the future of mining in the country. Southern Copper was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Citigroup and Societe Generale maintained its Buy rating on the stock but lowered its price target to $42.

Technology posted the worst decline in the broad market. Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), the world’s largest networking equipment maker, tumbled 3% to $15.51 posting the biggest percentage decline in the NASDAQ-100 and in the blue chip index. Cisco traded at a new 52-week low of $15.49, as it traded with above average volume. Cisco was opened for more weakness as it had broken through its calculated support at $16.11 last week.

Also in the sector and despite all of the positive comments from analysts and product gurus following its release of the new operating systems and its new iCloud service, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 1.77% to $332.04, closing 0.39% above calculated support at $330.73. Apple has been range bound for some time between $330 and $350, with its 50day moving average trading in the $342 area. Price action left Apple near the year's lower bound, despite Needham reiterating its Buy rating and $450 price target, with the firm saying that Apple just invented the intelligent cloud. Oppenheimer also offered positive comments about iCloud and Canaccord Genuity raised its price target to $485, saying it believes Apple's iOS 5 updates and enhancements extend Apple's software ecosystem leadership.

Mid week, stocks closed lower for the sixth straight session on economic growth worries, which followed Ben Bernanke’s grim outlook on the U.S. economy and after the Fed’s Beige Book provided additional signs of a slowdown in several regions.

The grim outlook from Fed Chief, Ben Bernanke was blamed for the late slide in the prior session and selling pressure carried over during the session, with bears receiving additional ammunition with the World Bank slashing its global growth forecast to 3.2%, and German export figures coming weaker than expected.

Also, the Fed's latest Beige Book indicated that economic activity generally continued to expand since the last report, but a few Districts experienced some deceleration.

The economic uncertainty and a warning from Moody’s that the U.K.’s AAA rating could take a hit, helped garner support for the Dollar, with the index gaining 0.5% in the session.

Despite the strength in the greenback, crude oil prices spiked from a morning loss to a gain of more than 2%. Oil closed pit trade with a 1.7% gain at $100.74 per barrel. Oil's climb came in response to OPEC's decision to leave production targets unchanged, after Saudi Arabia failed to convince other members to raise production. According to reports Iran, Venezuela, and Algeria didn’t support the calls for higher production quotas. Additionally, a surprisingly large draw in weekly oil inventories helped support crude oil's move higher.

Among the S&P 500 key sectors, energy and telecom posted the biggest gains, while materials, financials, and technology posted the weakest performances. Higher oil prices helped energy stocks trade with strength this session, although its gains waned into the close. As a group, energy stocks were up more than 1% at their session high, but they settled with a 0.4% gain.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) gained 0.95% to $80.76, posting the second biggest percentage gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the back of higher crude oil prices and as the company announced three discoveries in deepwater Gulf of Mexico with the potential for more than 700 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent. Exxon has calculated support at $79.42 and resistance at $88.13.

However the spike in crude oil, didn’t help lift shares of BP (NYSE:BP), the London, UK based energy giant, as it fell 1.16% to $43.49, closing below calculated support at $43.82. BP once again had to refute speculation of a plan to divest its Russian joint venture stake.

Also Transocean (NYSE:RIG), the largest deepwater driller, tumbled 2.62% to $62.79, with losses accelerating towards the close. Transocean moved lower despite higher crude oil prices and positive comments from Dahlman Rose. The firm upgraded the outlook for the jackup market on increased activity, while reiterating its Buy rating and target price of $85 at Transocean.

Material stocks fell the most with a 1% loss, however financials and technology, due to their weight provided the heaviest drags on the broad market index. Financials fell 0.9% while tech turned in a 0.8% loss. Widespread weakness among tech issues undercut the NASDAQ, which trailed the other benchmark indices for most of the session.

In the material sector, Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF), the diversified mining and natural resources Company, added 0.14% to $85.75, after the company announced that it had priced its offering common shares at $85.63. Cliffs said that in connection with the 9 million-share offering, the underwriters have been granted an over-allotment option to purchase an additional 1.35 million common shares.

Gold miners were mostly down despite the bullion finishing in positive territory, with Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM), the largest gold producer, falling 1.13% to $52.34, extending its year to date decline to $14.8%. Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL), the largest silver producer in the U.S., tumbled 4.66% to $7.37 after trading as low as $7.27 and as high as $7.78 on weaker silver prices. Hecla has been open for further weakness as the stock closed below its calculated support at $7.85 on Monday’s session.

Another natural resource play that was under pressure was Molycorp (NYSE:MCP), the owner of the world’s largest non-Chinese rare earth metals deposits, after the company announced the proposed secondary offering of 10 million shares of common stock by selling stockholders. In addition, the selling stockholders granted underwriters the option to purchase an additional 1.5 million shares of the Common Stock. The company also announced a $200 million convertible senior notes offering. Molycorp shares plunged 9.35% to $53.21, closing below calculated support at 56.80.

Metals stocks felt the pressure from a stronger Dollar and concern over economic growth. Alcoa (NYSE:AA), the aluminum producer, fell 1.78% to $15.41, closing below calculated support at $15.55 and posting the second biggest percentage decline in the blue chip index.

Weakness in the material sector amid strength in the greenback and economic jitters also hit economic sensitive stocks like Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT). The world’s largest earthmoving equipment maker fell 1.84% to $98.04, closing below calculated support at $99.15 and posting the biggest percentage decline in the Dow. Caterpillar was the best performing Dow component during the first quarter, jumping close to 19%; this quarter so far the stock has lost close to 12%.

Financials were again hit hard, with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) falling 1.03% to $10.54 and posting a new 52-week low at $10.49. The Charlotte, NC based bank extended its year to date decline to 20.99%.

On the tech side, Ciena (NASDAQ:CIEN) was one of the poorest performing issues, as shares plunged 16.19% to $20.29, to a multi-month low came in response to an earnings miss and downside guidance. Ciena posted a loss of $0.24 per share, $0.13 worse than consensus, on revenues that surged 64.9% year over year to $417.9 million.

Weakness in tech caught Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), which shares fell 1.35% to $15.30. Cisco posted one of the biggest percentage declines in the blue chip index, while posting a new 52-week low at $15.21.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), the dynamic random access memory chips maker, was a notable under performer, as shares tumbled more than 5% to $8.5 posting the biggest percentage decline in the NASDAQ-100.

Not all in tech was negative, eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY), the owner of paypal and operator of an auction marketplace, jumped 2.16% to $30.57 posting the biggest percentage gain in the NASDAQ-100 Index after it was upgraded to Outperform at Pacific Crest.

And Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was able to find support after moving to the lower bound of its trading range. Apple edged 0.06% higher to $332.24, after probing its calculated support level at $330.73, by trading intraday at $330.65.

On Thursday, the market started with modest gains following a string of losses, which took the S&P 500 to its longest loosing streak since 2009. The move to the upside came amid disappointing initial jobless claims data, mixed performance overseas, and U.S. trade data that showed the trade deficit narrowed to $43.7 billion versus consensus of $48.7 billion, as exports rose to a new record and imports from Japan tumbled more than 25% in the aftermath of its March 11^th earthquake and tsunami.

European markets posted significant gains, halting its losing streak after six consecutive sessions of declines, with miners bouncing back. The Bank of England left its interest rate and asset purchase program unchanged, while the ECB held its key interest rate at 1.25% unchanged, but President Jean-Claude Trichet signaled a rate increase for July.

Most of the key S&P 500 sectors ended higher, with materials, energy, and financials posting the biggest percentage gains, while technology, utilities, and telecom as notable underperformers.

Materials got the most traction ending the session with a 1.6% gain amid precious metal prices moving to the upside and after a bullish USDA report bolstered strength in shares of agricultural chemical and product companies. The U.S. numbers were driven by reductions in total production and harvest expectations, which was driven by the notable crop delays we have seen over recent weeks following unfavorable planting weather.

The USDA report coupled with strength in the sector helped DuPont (NYSE:DD), the third largest U.S. chemical maker and life science Company, as shares gained 1.45% to $50.46, posting the second biggest percentage gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and turning positive once again for the year, climbing more than 1.16%. DuPont had dipped in the prior session below calculated support at $49.75.

The agribusiness names, especially the fertilizer names received strong bids, as grain prices soared on the back of the USDA report. Potash (NYSE:POT), the largest fertilizer company in the world, jumped 3.98% to $55.36. Potash has calculated resistance at $57.87 and support at $53.71. Year to date the stock has gained more than 7%.

Precious metals climbed despite the strength in the Dollar, which received a bid on the back of the drop in the trade deficit. Both metals moved to the upside on the back of commentary from ECB President Jean Claude Trichet that implied the bank will hike rates in July. Gold finished higher by 0.3% to $1453.00 per ounce, while July silver closed up 2% to $37.36.

Goldcorp (NYSE:GG), the Vancouver, Canada based gold producer, gained 1.21% to $47.59 on the back of higher prices for the bullion and prospects on added gains on the back of possible higher interest rates in Europe. Goldcorp finished 1.51% above its calculated support at $46.87; year to date the stock has gained 3.5% and has traded as high as $56.20.

Despite dipping below its calculated support at $32.43 in the prior session, Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW), the largest metal streaming company in the world, rallied 2.50% to $33.18 as silver prices moved above $37 an ounce. The stock has been under pressure in the last months, falling 9.7% in June, which followed a 9.5% drop in May.

Energy also outperformed, with crude oil ending very close to $102 per barrel despite the strength in the greenback after record U.S. exports signaled good global demand and after yesterday’s OPEC meeting failed to end with an agreement among the cartel members to increase production. The sector gains were capped by significant weakness in natural gas, which tumbled 3.6% following bearish inventory data.

BP (NYSE:BP) climbed 1.72% to $44.24 rebounding from the prior session slide on the heels of higher oil prices. The stock advanced above its calculated support level of $43.82, which it broke in the prior session, as the company refuted speculation that it would sale its stake in its Russian joint venture.

Despite the weak natural gas prices, Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK), the onshore natural gas and oil producer, gained 0.54% to $29.75, closing 1.51% above its calculated support at $29.30. In related news in a SEC filing, Mexican Magnate Carlos Silm’s firm, Grupo Carso, sold 4.2 million shares it hold in Bronco Drilling at $11 per share, turning a announced earlier in the week that it had completed the tender offer for shares of Bronco Drilling.

Financials also saw a strong bid, as participants snapped shares in the embattled sector. JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), the largest U.S. lender, jumped 1.46% to $40.98, posting the biggest percentage gain in the blue chip index after trading very near its calculated support at $40.20 in the prior session. The stock is down 3.4% year to date.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) also moved to the upside, surging 2.61% to $37.77 after it had been hit hard following last week’s weak economic data. Citi lost more than 10% in the first sessions in June. The move to the upside comes amid revelations that the bank credit card security had been breached with hackers being able to see account data for some Citi’s customers. However the lender said only about 1% of customers was affected by the breach, and that social security numbers and card security codes were not compromised.

And embattled shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), the biggest exposure to the U.S. economy, gained 1.04% to $10.65 after posting a new 52-week low at $10.50.

Another stock jumping more than 2% in the day was American International General (NYSE:AIG), the insurer. Shares of AIG gained 2.86% to $28.10. The stock traded as low as $27.53 and a high as $28.43 after it was initiated with a Buy and a target price of $34 at Deutsche Bank.

Technology underperformed after JPMorgan lowered its PC and tablet forecasts for 2011, due to an uncertain growth profile in China and weakness in global consumption and as Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN), the maker of digital signal processing (DSP) and microcontroller (MCU) semiconductors, after the company cut its current quarter guidance due to a slowdown at one of their customers. Texas Instruments ended higher by 0.73% to $32.91, as in closed below its calculated support at $33.11 for the third straight session. FBR Capital lowered Texas Instruments’ target price to $39 from $40, citing the reduced guidance is due to weaker sales to Nokia, with the rest of the business tracking as expected.

And NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), the world leader in visual computing technologies, fell 1.14% to $17.37 on the JPMorgan warning and after Pacific Crest said that the company is off to a slow start for its second quarter. NVIDIA trimmed its yearly loss to 12.8%.

At the end of the week, stocks tumbled, closing near its session lows, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling below the 12,000, as the market posted their sixth consecutive weekly loss amid weak Chinese trade data that spurred renewed fears over a weak global economy.

In Asia, the Nikkei gained for the 3^rd session, while China edged higher and Hong Kong posted a 0.8% loss. Chinese trade data showed that imports grew better than expected, however exports was weaker than expected, with export growth slowing down.

European markets fell to a 3-month closing low, posting their sixth consecutive week of declines after lackluster Chinese trade data stoked concerns about global growth. Miners were particularly weaker amid a retreat in commodities.

All of the key S&P 500 sectors closed in negative territory, with energy, consumer discretionary, and healthcare posting the biggest declines, while financials and utilities fell, but posted the smallest declines. The energy sector tumbled 1.9%, with practically all of the stocks in the sector closing in negative territory.

The Dollar received a strong bid in today’s risk off trade adding pressure to the commodities like oil, which were already falling on concern over faltering demand in the world’s fastest growing economy. The greenback extended gains against the euro, which came under pressure on concerns over the debt crisis and the Greek debt situation.

Crude oil remained under heavy pressure during the second half of the session, trading as low as $98.64 per barrel, before closing with a 2.6% loss at $99.30 per barrel was as supply worries from the inconclusive OPEC meeting eased, with Saudi Arabia beginning to offer more oil to Asian refiners and on speculation the Kingdom will raise production to 10 million barrels per day in July.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) fell 1.72% to $79.78, closing just 0.45% above calculated support at $79.42. While ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), the third largest U.S. energy producer dropped 1.41% to $71.49, closing near the lows of the session at $71.40 and 1.23% above its calculated support of $70.61. Conocophillips ended the week with a 1.24% loss.

Materials fell, despite some pockets of strength among steelmakers. Precious metals saw declines amid the strength in the Dollar. Gold ended down $13.40 to $1529.20 per ounce, while silver finished at $36.27 per ounce.

The iShares Silver Trust ETF (NYSE:SLV) tumbled 3.87% to $35.25 as silver prices were closed below $37 an ounce level, with the metal falling on a strengthening Dollar and as participants moved away from commodities on a risk-off trade. The trust trimmed its year to date gain of more than 16.8%, with shares falling more than 6.2% in June. The Silver Trust closed 1.82% above calculated support at $34.61.

Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) fell 2.01% to $29.70, closing 1.28% above calculated support at $29.32. The stock was able to find a level of support despite falling silver prices after it was initiated with a Buy and a target price of $46.99 at Dahlman Rose.

Steelmakers moved to the upside, with AK Steel (NYSE:AKS), the Ohio based steel company, was jumping 3.57% to $15.22, posting the biggest percentage gain in the S&P 500. US Steel (NYSE:X) also gained, climbing more than 1.43% to $43.33, posting one of the biggest gains in the broad market index. Its counterintuitive that the steelmakers are having a good day, amid grim views in the economic recovery, however some analysts are seeing that the long slump in steel prices is starting to bottoming out, with Morgan Stanley actually believing that a sector-wide recovery is coming closer. There was also renewed M&A chatter in the sector this week, which could be also providing some lift amid a very weak tape.

Financials saw a sharp reversal, with banks actually erasing earlier losses and moving into positive territory, following reports that that extra capital charge on the biggest banks is likely to be at 2 to 2.5%, instead of the widely-reported 3%. Earlier in the session, banks tumbled after the Fed said it is proposing that firms with $50 billion or more in assets be subjected to annual stress tests.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) saw one of the biggest swings after trading as low as $10.41, a new 52-week low, and as high as $11.03. The stock finished with a gain of 1.41% to $10.80. The Charlotte, NC based bank has been hit the hardest in the last sessions on concern over the potential for its mortgage holding to sour amid weak economic growth, which will impact its earnings potential. Bank of America posted the biggest percentage gain in the blue chip index.

Also on the sector posting the second best gain in the broad market index, American International Group (NYSE:AIG) jumped more than 3% to $28.96, closing just above its calculated resistance at $28.95, after the banks turned higher and after Bank of America Merrill initiated AIG with a Buy and a target price of $37.

Casualty insurers pressured the sector and weighed on the blue chip index, with Travelers (NYSE:TRV), the property and casualty insurer, tumbling 3.06% to $59.21, posting the second biggest percentage decline in the Dow, after the company said that it wad slowing down its share buyback program after its estimating catastrophic losses of between $1 to $1.05 billion. These losses resulted from multiple tornadoes and hailstorms, primarily in the Midwest and Southeast.

Technology was also under pressure with the tech heavy NASDAQ turning negative for the year, with semis adding to pressure after the Philadelphia semiconductor index dipped below its 200-day moving average. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), the world’s largest chipmaker, fell 1.75% to $21.38, breaking below calculated support at $21.66 after Macquarie cut its price target to $24.60 from $26.70.

Also weighing in the tech sector was Apple’s weakness. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 1.69% to $325.90, dipping below calculated support at $330.73. Apple was moving lower as Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ) announced its tablet, the Touchpad will be released in the U.S. on July 1^st. The stock was also downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform by Mumbai’s brokerage, First Global. Apple closed below its 2011 low, which was posted in January. The stock now should find strong support in the $323 area, which corresponds to its ascending 200day moving average. Apple had been trading between $330 and $350 for most of the year, with many participants expecting a catalyst for the stock to break out to the upside, with this move catching some off-guard.

Healthcare was also among the worst sectors, with Pfizer (NASDAQ:PFE), the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, tumbled 3.08% to $20.11, closing 0.20$ above calculated support at $20.07 and posting the biggest percentage decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.