Crocs Rises; KB Home, Radian Fall
As the housing slump caused stocks to slide yesterday, Safeway slipped on a sell rating, Onyx Pharmaceuticals surged on a clinical trial triumph and Altria Group advanced on the prospect of a spinoff.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 56.74, or 0.4%, to 13322.13. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 15.44, or 0.6%, to 2561.25, having fallen back in just two of the past seven sessions. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index lost 12.58, or 0.9%, to 1466.79. The New York Stock Exchange Composite Index fell 78.11, or 0.8%, to 9528.93.</br></br>Investors wanted little to do with stocks after word that existing- home sales fell during July, a fifth-straight decline, while inventories of unsold property climbed and prices dropped. "This showed us how fractured and uncertain the housing market still is," said John Twomey, managing director for institutional equities trading at Merriman Curhan Ford. "Until there are signs of stabilization, what goes on in the housing market will remain an important factor in traders' and investors' decision making."</br></br>Safeway lost $1.05, or 3.2%, to $31.89. Merrill Lynch downgraded the supermarket chain's shares to sell from neutral, expecting them to underperform through the rest of 2007 and likely into 2008.</br></br>Altria Group rose 89 cents, or 1.3%, to 70.08. The tobacco company is expected to announce a spinoff of its Philip Morris International arm after a board meeting tomorrow.