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DJIA Sheds 41.49 Points as Jobs Data Loom Large By PETER A. MCKAY.

Disappointing U.S. economic data fanned investors' fears about global growth, pushing stocks and commodities down ahead of a key payrolls report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 41.49 points, or 0.4%, at 9732.53. Among the measure's worst performers at the close, Bank of America fell 2.4%, General Electric shed 2.1% and Merck dropped 1.5%.

The euro gained sharply against the dollar on the heels of a successful Spanish government bond auction, which sparked some confidence in Europe's banking system.

That helped to spur selling of gold, which many traders had used as a safeguard during the worst days of Europe's debt crisis. Gold contracts snapped a two-day winning streak, sliding nearly $40, the worst one-day drop in nearly five months.
"Today was a pain trade" for those investors betting against the euro and owning gold, "as people are a little less afraid of the risks to the European banking system," said hedge-fund manager Daniel J. Arbess, a partner at Perella Weinberg Partners.

The encouraging signs out of Europe came as fears flared about the U.S., where data showed a plunge in pending-home sales and an unexpected weekly rise in filings of jobless claims.
The latter, a particularly ominous sign ahead of the highly anticipated June employment report, helped push long-dated Treasury yields to their lowest level since April 2009, extending the bond market's strong finish to the second quarter. Yields move inversely to prices.

Crude-oil futures fell 3.5% in New York trading, gasoline futures dropped below $2 a gallon and copper futures tumbled 2.5%

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index dropped 0.3% to 1027.37.

"The market just can't seem to get anything going, considering the soft patch that the economy is clearly hitting," said Joe Williams, a strategist at Commerce Trust. "The selling has probably gotten a little overblown, but that doesn't mean there's any great upside to be had for now, either."

source: wsj