Market Summary 7/30/2010

Stock Market Closing Prices – 7/30/10

Dow ( DJIA ) Close - 10465.94 -1.22
Nasdaq Close - 2254.70 +3.01
S&P 500 Close – 1101.60 +0.07

Commodities Closing Prices – 7/30/10

Gold Close - 1181.70
Oil Close – 78.95
Natural Gas – 4.92

The Dow is down 1 points.

The markets survive an early and deep sell-off today after a government report shows weaker-than-expected economic growth. Merck and Intel are drags on the Dow.

The 2.4% growth rate for GDP confirmed that the economy was slowing in the second quarter. At the same time, the government said, the recession was deeper than earlier believed.

The S&P 500 ended above the psychologically important 1,100 level for a second week in a row. That's good.

A late rally pushed crude oil to $78.95, a gain of 59 cents. Gold rose $13.30 to $1,181.70. Copper, a key industrial metal, was up 2.15 cents to $3.3115 a pound. Copper was up 4% on the week and is up 12% in July.