reuters commentary

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3 hr 5 min ago
[BRIEFING.COM] For the third straight session, the market endured a post-lunch plunge that erased intraday gains that left the indices submerged. While the session was launched on solid footing - as a stream of September same store sales data, a host of positive earnings reports, GE's upbeat guidance, and easing energy prices injected some reassurance into an inflation-fixated and interest-rate wary market - gains were ultimately unsustainable. Although his remarks were of no surprise, reasserted inflation-related comments from Dallas Fed President Fisher exacerbated the sell-off that traders, disappointed in yet another session's inability to maintain momentum, began this afternoon. Week-to-date, and Q4-to-date, the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq have respectively lost 2.7%, 3.1%, and 3.2%. Leadership was all but absent again today, with Energy spending yet another session in the laggard's slot. A 1.7% drop in crude ($61.70/bbl), accompanied by similar pullbacks in gasoline and natural gas, prompted a 2.3% loss across the sector, which has, since Monday, given back nearly 10% of its year-to-date gain.