U.S. Stocks Fall as Investors Weigh Stimulus Plans, Syria

Bloomberg, (12/9) -- U.S. stocks fell, halting a seven-day win streak for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as materials producers slid amid growing concern over Syria and investors weighed the prospects for Federal Reserve stimulus cuts. The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 1,683.42 at 4 p.m. in New York, snapping the longest streak of gains since July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 25.96 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,300.64. The tensions increased today as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told top Syrian opposition figures in a phone call today that the option of a U.S. military strike remains on the table, according to a State Department official. Kerry arrived in Geneva for talks with his Russian counterpart on a proposal for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad set conditions for the U.S., saying a deal must be a “two-way street” in which the Obama administration drops its military threats and stops arming Syrian rebels. The tensions over Syria have competed for investor attention with concern about reductions in Fed stimulus. Investors have been scrutinizing economic data to determine whether growth is robust enough for the Federal Open Market Committee to pare back its monthly bond buying following its Sept. 17-18 meeting. A report today showed jobless claims in the U.S. declined last week to the lowest level since April 2006 as upgrades to computer systems in two states caused those employment agencies to report fewer applications. Economists estimate the Fed this month will taper its stimulus by $10 billion a month, to $75 billion, according to the median of 34 responses in a Bloomberg News survey. The purchases have helped the S&P 500 rally as much as 153 percent since the beginning of the bull market in March 2009.